Smithers MINNEAPOLIS

Greenwashing

I took the opportunity to interview an employee of a major multinational corporation.

Q: Can you explain the term "Greenwashing?"

A: Look at some products on the market today, products that you might find in your refrigerator. On the packaging it says "This product is made from renewable energy" or "100% wind source energy used" or however they choose to phrase it. Well, my question would be, do they own their own wind farm. Most likely not. They are paying a premium charge for their energy, but not a huge charge in the scheme of things - maybe a couple of hundred thousand dollars extra, to buy wind source energy. Is that energy actually going to their manufacturing facility? No. They are just paying that premium to the utility company in order to state that they are powered by wind energy. The fact that they made that payment is what allows them to make the statement that they are a "green" company. But look at the process that is actually used to make their product. In the case of soy milk, the product is grown in a field which is very energy intensive when you take into account all the farming practices that are used to grow the product. The product is then packaged in a carton that is coated with some kind of plastic material that it not going to allow it to biodegrade or be easily recycled so it ends up in a landfill.

A lot of companies are taking advantage of this easy option in order to make the claim that they are "green" and they are using this claim, in a number of cases, to obscure the fact that they may not be especially "green" or, in some cases, that they may actually be making some pretty toxic products. Right now it’s all about winning the game of consumer perception.

Q: So you think there has been a conscious decision on the part of business to not actually incorporate "green" technology in manufacturing but instead using the "green" phenomenon as a marketing tool to promote their brand, or to actually hide some of the more harmful effects of their products?

A: That’s a generalization, but it is a fine line that companies walk when they go down the "green" road. Promoting the fact that a company may be "green" leaves that company open to closer examination as to whether or not they are indeed practicing sustainable energy management. Hopefully the consumer is getting smart enough to see this and ask these questions.

This issue is important to consumers and companies are struggling with how to deal with the question of sustainable energy as well as the consumer perception of the companies business practices. Look at Walmart. They have done a lot of work of the past few years to turn around the image of their company by embracing sustainable energy management. Walmart has also been putting tremendous pressure on their suppliers to meet minimum sustainability standards. They would not be making these moves if there was not a benefit in the marketplace, both in the cost of doing business but also in consumer perception, to do so.

There are a lot of companies that may be making a mistake by promoting themselves as "green" without actually doing any real significant work to practice sustainable energy management.

Q: Do you for see a social or political backlash against this "green" movement if the consumers see it as nothing more than a marketing gimmick?

A: It’s already happening. Consumers are already getting saturated with information on how live a "green" lifestyle. Paper or plastic, compact florescent bulbs, recycling, etc. It’s a bit too much right now because there is so much conflicting and inaccurate information out there that consumers don’t know what to do and aren’t sure that what they are doing is making any significant difference.

The average consumer is going to attach themselves to whatever was the latest sound bite they heard on the Today Show. It’s 90% emotion and 10% science. A lot of what I hear about renewable energy is cultivated by a fear of the unknown versus any real scientific study and until we really understand the real impact to the environment it’s just going to be chaos, as we are seeing now.

Q: What is the best way for consumers to learn about and understand these issues?

A: Fist off, as with anything, you should have a good dose of skepticism about anything you hear in the media, from government or from private agencies. When it comes to the "green" movement, regardless where you stand on the issue of global climate change, the biggest issue that consumers should take seriously is one of conservation. Stop chasing after questionable technologies that will "save the world". The biggest difference that the consumer can make right now is to just stop consuming so much. Stop using so much energy. Turn the lights off when you leave the room, burn less gasoline, turn off the water when you are not using it. It’s the pretty simple stuff that can make a huge difference when everyone does it, it doesn’t cost you any money (just the opposite) and it does not require some massive investment in the latest and greatest technology.

This is not to say that there will not be real technological breakthrough in the future. But we have been burned as a society time and time again by following these business trends. The dot com era of the late 1990’s, the mortgage and real estate crisis going on right now. There is going to be so much speculation in the "green" market in the future that it is inevitably going to blow up in our face. Consumers should really just focus on things that can be done simply and at home.

Q: Your advice to people who want to save the environment?

A: Look at simple ways that you can have less impact on the world that you live in. It’s really not that hard.