This morning, driving home from work, I listened in mild amusement as the CBC voices finally discovered greenwashing: the act of "misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service."
I remember learning about this "phenomenon" six years ago, in a first-year university course, and so does my husband, who was going through the same rite of passage a full six years prior to me. Way to be cutting edge, CBC.
Primarily, the CBC interviewed corporate folks who defended the corporate need to greenwash, arguing that they're just adapting to circumstances in order to remain profitable. They are just following the logic of the market, right? After all, according to our out-dated thinking, profit and costs are always strictly monetary, direct, and immediate - and as long as the former is greater than the latter, then the company is cruising towards its greedy goal.
The problem with defending nasty corporations that wield a green paintbrush is that many companies are actually making legitimate steps towards going green, and inventing products that are more energy-efficient, less toxic, and more bio-degradable. The real harm in greenwashing is that it muddies the waters that we have to wade through to get to an item that we may actually need. Although we may truly want it to be ethical, we can't find it in green so we settle for red.
It turns out that 98% of companies are guilty of lying about their products' content and origin, aka greenwashing. This is super simple, we all lie all the time, but these lies are just so bloody intentional that it's hard not to have hurt feelings. On this website, there is also a break-down of greenwashing into more detectable terms, which they coined "The Seven Sins of Greenwashing".
In a perfect world, or even just a sane one, we'd all create the time, energy and inclination to dig until we discover the truth about a company, and then we'd put our dollar where our values are by avoiding it like the oil slick or, better yet, by actively slandering their name. Instead, everybody seems to have bought into the "buyer beware" mantra, which is true to a point, but it's also just a nicer way of placing the burden of proof squarely on the shoulders of the buyer, instead of on the bullshitting company where it belongs.
You say you've now got organic and fair-trade products galore for a third of the normal price, Wal-Mart? Prove it. I don't buy it, and I'm not even going to look at it, because I trust that I can't trust you so you don't deserve my time. You've taken enough. Shell wants us to forgive it for Nigeria by sponsoring the 2010 Eco-Marathon Americas? I don't really know what that is, but I'm pretty sure it's irrelevant. Did you know May 1st was Send Shell to Hell Day?
According to "buyer beware", if we fall for these lovely-sounding phrases and decide to embrace Wal-Mart, Shell, etc, it's not the company's fault - they're just being rational. It is OUR fault, because we should have known better than to trust a company whose survival depends on its ability to bluff.
The ethical thing to do here seems to be to just refuse to support liars who rob us of our health and peace of mind. Rather than focus on what's bad - there are millions of lists of recalls and harmfull products out there already - let's look at what's good.
All-Purpose Cleaner
1 tbsp washing soda (Borax)
1/2 cup liquid castile soap
1/2 cup white vinegar
4 litres hot tap water
20 drops of an essential oil like lemon, lavender, tea tree, or eucalyptus
1. Combine these things and put them in a spray bottle.
Laundry Detergent
1 cup vinegar
1 cup baking soda
1 cup washing soda (Borax)
1/4 cup liquid castile soap
1. Pour liquid soap in a bowl. Stir in the washing soda, then the baking soda, and then add the vinegar in small batches.
2. Break up all the lumps.
3. Use 1/2 cup per load.
Since water and vinegar does the trick on the windows with an old newspaper, what else do you need? Well, I recommend Tramp, a wonderful bottled liquid soap from Lush... it's hip, it's sexy, and best of all, it's dark GREEN.
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