15
Aug
The Smart Consumer Understands Greenwashing
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- What it means – Greenwashing is a term that is used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. Environmentalists often use greenwashing to describe the actions of energy companies, which are traditionally the largest polluters.
- The term Green sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations that appear as though they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment, but are in fact not substantially altering their environmental impacts. The term came into use around 1990. It is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices.
- How it affects you – Greenwashing may be accomplished by simply changing the name or label of a product, to give the feeling of nature, without actually changing the product itself. For example, putting an image of a forest on a bottle of harmful chemicals.
- How you can avoid it – You should read carefully the ingredients on the back of the bottle to see if harmful ingredients are listed. An even better strategy is to check the manufacturer’s website for more information and, when in doubt, contact them to ask questions directly.
What it means to you – The extent that you participate in the growing green movement is a personal preference. There are so many different ways to contribute to saving the planet. The more savvy you can be about products/services you use, the better. Today is the day you can start by changing 5 things in your life, then adding more next week until you find yourself as green as you can be!
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