Greenwashing is the art of misleading consumers of a product's environmental friendliness. This is happening alot these days, especially since being "green" seems to be so trendy at the moment. It seems everyone wants a piece of the pie and are willing to market themselves as "green" without much credibility. For example, everyone talks about bamboo floors as being environmentally friendly. While it is a rapidly renewable resource, as bamboo grows very quickly, consider the impact of shipping from overseas (rather than buying locally) or the high use of formaldehydes as a binding agent. While there are going to be pros and cons with all products, my intent is not to discourage the use of bamboo, as I find it to be a beautiful flooring. My intent is to make sure that we don't always take things for face value and consider the whole story. One bamboo company worth looking at due to there sustainable business model is Teragren, which emits less formaldehyde than many others on the market.
Another way to be "greenwashed" is taking 100% natural for face value. You would think this would mean it was good for you...right? Well, consider ingredients like arsenic and formaldehyde. They are naturally occurring, but do you want to rub them on your skin or ingest them. I think not.
Or consider the cleaning products that claim to be chlorine-free but are filled with other toxic chemicals.
My advice...Give it a good hard long thought before jumping on the greenwashed bandwagon. Just because a company says it is "green" or environmentally friendly...is it?
Hi Ashley -
MSG is natural, too - lol - ridiculous what they can say these days. I like Bamboo and took careful care in looking at the non toxic versions of it before putting it in my house. I think we have to stand up for better choices as a consumer!
Ashley,
Great post--it's important to not go overboard when promoting something as green and keeping things fair and honest. "Organic" is seeming to get some regulating as well.
All the best,
Audrey
Ashley- Brilliant! Your approach is short and sweet, and to the point. Well done. I wrote a piece on the same issue (I'm Organic...) and the response was so negative I came up with an entry just to deal with the negativity.
I am so afraid that this green movement is turning into a 'feel good' movement where people don't really care anymore what it stands for. But for God's sake....don't say anything critical.
Good writing and reporting. I'll be reading more of your blogs soon.