What Does ‘Green’ Mean?
“Green is when we are actually healing the ecosystems of the planet we depend upon. Anything less is just slowing the damage. It’s sort of useless."
— Greg Gerritt, Environmental Council of Rhode Island
Frank CariniThe meaning of “green” has faded. Public relations firms and marketing agencies have diluted it to get their corporate clients’ overhyped and overpriced environmentally friendly impostors the biggest share possible of the eco-conscious consumer dollar.
If we were to believe all of this eco-friendly propaganda, green oil and gas are available. We can drive green SUVs and enjoy green vacations at Walt Disney World.
This relentless barrage of eco-PR is overwhelming. There’s green dog food, green chocolate bars and green undergarments, such as an “eco-friendly” bra that doubles as a shopping bag. Most every company is touting something green, which is why many consumers don’t know whether a company or product really is environmentally friendly.
Many of these self-proclaimed green companies spend more time and money claiming to be green through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impacts. It’s nothing more than whitewashing, but with a green brush.
All of this market manipulation has robbed the green movement of its voice. Talk of sustainability and reduced consumerism has been drowned out by corporate marketing that utilizes false and misleading claims to awash their bank accounts in green.
Many hotels like to call themselves green because they allow guests to choose to sleep on the same sheets and reuse towels, but they seldom do little else to save water and energy, because the cost to do so would hurt the bottom line. In-ground sprinkler systems running no matter the weather or broken heads creating puddles of mushy lawn are left untouched. Outdated appliances decorate the kitchen and inefficient lighting illuminates hallways. Gas-guzzling vans shuttle people, sometimes no more than two or three at a time, back and forth to the airport.
Earlier this year, the Coca-Cola Co. introduced its new plastic bottle — called the PlantBottle — which is 70 percent petroleum-based, instead of 100 percent. Coke was so impressed with its planet-saving idea of using Brazilian sugarcane to make 30 percent of its plastic bottles that the company’s Dasani bottled water brand last month ran a green-hat giveaway to build awareness of this still-mostly petroleum-based bottle often filled with high-fructose corn syrup.
Hat recipients were notified via e-mail on Earth Day.
Four decades after the first Earth Day was launched to promote environmental awareness and education, the idea has been co-opted by some of the globe’s worst polluters. Chevron, Pacific Gas & Electric, Cargill and the Dow Chemical Co., one of the biggest polluters in global history, sponsored some of the Earth Day events celebrated April 22 across the country.
Earth Day is now less about the appreciation for the environment and more about FAO Schwartz, Proctor & Gamble and other multinationals hyping their green image.
Congress has introduced initiatives, such as the Household Product Labeling Act of 2009 that called for more transparency, but we can’t wait for government to stop this orgy of bogus marketing.
Educating yourself about truly green goods and companies takes time, so ecoRI Inc. would like to help, but we need your assistance. We are creating a database called “Green Guide” that will feature Web sites and products recommended by readers and researched by us. To recommend a Web site or environmentally friendly product/business, please send an e-mail to frank@ecoRI.org. In the subject line, please write Green Guide.
Frank Carini is the executive director of ecoRI Inc. He can be reached at 401-678-0206 or via e-mail at frank@ecoRI.org.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 7:09AM
Reader Comments (4)
Frank -- excellent piece! You are absolutely correct. We are NEVER going to buy our way out of the current situation.
As you point out, one sure fire way to begin to turn the tide is through choking the Engine of Consumerism. Use less, buy less; buy less, produce less; produce less, plunder the Earth's resources less. It's that simple.
And the icing on the cake here? If you are downsizing your consumer ways, you're going to save money in the process. Spend less, save more; save more, eliminate debt more; eliminate debt and unrationale spending, you don't have to work as much; less work, gain more time to do things in life that bring true happiness. Foresake the material in favor of the inmaterial things in life that let the human spirit soar.
This is the new pursuit we all must begin to follow.
Be well,
Bill
Normally I am a big fan of EcoRIand think Frank Carini gets it right. So his opening attack on PR firms in this article is a little to generalist in my taste.
Frank writes, "The meaning of “green” has faded. Public relations firms and marketing agencies have diluted it to get their corporate clients’ over-hyped and overpriced environmentally friendly impostors the biggest share possible of the eco-conscious consumer dollar."
I take offense with this statement. I own a PR firm and I have argued with my clients over the past three years about misuse of the term green. You aren't "green" because you recycle, or because your product can be recycled, or because it saves 10 kwh of energy over the competition. But on the other hand Frank, companies who are doing something shouldn’t be scolded for trying to market it. Coke could have left their bottle alone, I don’t think they should be applauded for what they did but they don’t need to be chastised either. I think green bashing can be as damaging to the movement as much as greenwashing can be. While greenwashing confuses consumers and provides them with misinformation, influencers who take an all or nothing approach make individuals feel ashamed for not doing enough and in return they get angry and think “I can’t make a difference so why bother.”
Theoretically you could take your coke example and apply it to Prius owners, they could ride their bike couldn’t they?
I think Greg Gerritt of the Environmental Council of Rhode Island gets it wrong when he says, “Green is when we are actually healing the ecosystems of the planet we depend upon. Anything less is just slowing the damage. It’s sort of useless."
Sorry Greg, that is environmentalism. We must slow the damage because we need the time for the bigger picture of saving our planet to happen. What if the person who is going to figure it all out hasn't even been born yet? Consumerism isn't going to stop. We're going to live and that includes going online to read news from ECRI and EcoRI, and buying the stuff we need. If we buy stuff because it is a little more green, that should not be a bad thing. We can't and shouldn't stop consumerism because that in turn creates another completely different set of problems.
I also think your broad strokes are simply wrong. The economic crash wasn't the demise of green as many had predicted, I believe, in fact that it made many companies rethink their green marketing because consumers had become cynical and weren't going to buy green for the sake of the word. New campaigns have layered messaging that give consumers personal reasons to go green and that is what motivates people. Individuals don't think in terms of healing ecosystems, they think in terms of what is better for my health and wellness, or my wallet. And a good PR and marketing campaign can convey those messages because there are shades of green.
So, instead of bashing PR firms for driving awareness of green maybe you should look for the message inside. Not everyone can do everything but everyone can do something. Earth Day may be off track from its original intention but if the greater good is mainstream awareness, can’t we look at moving the needle verses how the needle gets moved?
Kimberly Lancaster, Caster Communications
Kimberly,
Thank you for taking the time to write a well-thought-out response to this column. One of ecoRI's missions is to facilitate public discussion.
Although we disagree on some points, you did make some others I hadn't really considered. I wasn't bashing PR professionals — well, perhaps a few — or the importance of mainstream environmental awareness. My larger point was that too many companies are using green branding as a way to pad their bank accounts, not make changes that actually matter.
Thank you for starting a discussion.
— Frank Carini, ecoRI
An excellent resource for researching a company's environmental, human relations, and overall means of doing business is www.knowmore.org/ , started by RI poets/ emcees B. Dolan and Sage Francis.