The GreenWash Watcher GWW

Don't Hide The Facts...We Want To Make A Solution

The GreenWash Watcher (GWW) is a blog and forum dedicated to the disucussion of environmental claims and articles as well as the outing of governments, NGOs, companies, media, and products that may be trying to cover up the realy impact we are having on the environemt by trying to make us think we are making a difference when we are not. 

As the “green” movement has taken root we are now bombarded with products, ads, companies, and even environmental groups claiming to have the solution to many of our “eco” problems.  After researching many of these products and claims I have found out that many of them are profit or objective garnering “greenwashings”.  So

what is greenwashing…?

 green·wash (grēn’wŏsh’, -wôsh’)

1. (v) The dissemination of misleading information by an organization to conceal its abuse of the environment in order to present a positive public image.
2. (n) The information so disseminated.

How can you tell if you are being greenwashed?

According to Terra Choice Environmental Marketing, there are seven specific sins of greenwashing:

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-off–wouldn’t it be terrible if paper was made from sustainable trees but the process poisoned the well
2. Sin of No Proof–many biodegradable or degradable claims aren’t supported by test data from third party labs or in accordance with recognized standards
3. Sin of Vagueness–if a label read ”contains up to 90% recycled content” it wouldn’t be uncommon for it to only have 10%…in a case like this it should state contains at least 10%.
4. Sin of Worshiping False Labels–often when there aren’t certifying agencies or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) companies resort to printing labels that look like certification seals
5. Sin of Irrelevance–would an organic cigarette be any more healthy than non-organic one?
6. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils–if a manufacturing process produced less of one chemical discharge but substituted it with an equally hazardous one it would be irrelevant to market the absence of the first as a product improvement
7. Sin of Fibbing–often ads or claims are just false, either in how they present their attributes or how they stack up to the competition.

This blog www.greenwashwatcher.com and forum www.greenwashdebate.com were established to give consumers a voice in in this new world. 

Blog and forum entries are opinions only since for many reality is perception.  If you think about it all posts are likely to offend someone since we are proposing that they concealing an environmentl abouse or false claim.  All authors are encouraged to post links to support their position and any people with contrary positions are encouraged to author a response and provide supporting data.