Greenwash – Buyer Beware
We were at the toy store (Home Depot) this weekend to shop for some stains and sandpaper for finishing up a built in shelving unit project. I spotted an impressive bit of greenwashing on one of the products offered in the aisle caddies.
So first, let me explain. Greenwashing is a term familiar to anyone in the green building industry, but it may not be a ubiquitous term. Basically it refers to any type of advertising or labeling that brags about the “greenness” of a product (or sustainability, naturalness, healthiness) when those claims may be false, misleading or basically a non-factor. Check out this website for excellent discussion of the seven sins of greenwashing, and for tips to whack through the jungle of lies.
One pretty clear piece of greenwashing in NY city, for example, is the label “zero trans–fat”. This is greenwashing because, by city law since 2005, trans-fat has been a no-go in the Big Apple (also currently the case in Albany County and Nassau County, NY, some cities in CT and MA and all of CA ) though “zero” in this case is defined as anything lower than .5 grams. Early in the paint transition to low and no VOC (volatile organic compounds) many finish paints were low VOC, but the accompanying primer still boasted high VOC content, totally undermining the actual goal of improving indoor air quality. Another fabulous and long-lived food example is “made from 100% real fruit juice” when this says nothing about how much of the product is truly fruit juice. It could be 1% that is made from 100% real fruit juices, with the rest being water, sugars and the like. You get the idea.
I also know how easy it is to get sucked in by greenwashing that seems okay on the surface and I have a special hatred for greenwashing in the energy sector. The term PZEV means “partial zero emissions vehicle” but this label does nothing to ensure excellent or even decent gas mileage. The label speaks only to emissions controls and elimination of evaporative emissions. Good stuff, but only part of the whole picture.
My favorite piece of green bunk is “Think about it”, the TV and radio choking calling card of “Natural Gas”. I find “Natural Gas“ to be truly the most clever and innocuous-seeming example of greenwashing. I mean, really, it’s also “natural coal” – think about THAT. Unfortunately “natural” in this use is synonymous with “unhealthy”. For some inspiration and information on the health burdens and additional costs of fossil fuel use, I recommend you check out The Solutions Project – 100% Renewable Energy goals site.
100% “usable”? You’re kidding, right?
Well, back to Home Depot. What do you think of “zero-waste, 100% usable, no scrap” cloths for painting and clean up? There was nothing on this package that said what was in the cloths, if they were recycled or recyclable or where the materials were grown or sourced. The cloths were packaged in plastic (uhm, I’m thinking that’s waste), with no indication if the wrapping was recyclable or made from recycled content. No useful info, just the misleading big round label shouting ZERO-WASTE.
Let me add my big round label to most of what’s being sold out there. BUYER BEWARE and be-aware. What is it you need? What makes sense for the product in discussion? How are you going to use it and how can you make your process of buying, using (reusing) and disposal greener? It’s really up to each of us to ask questions, educate ourselves, and make decisions based in fact, not based on the marketing hype we are fed.
Think about that, and be greener.
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