Organic food labeling and Greenwashing

Companies want us to buy their products, they know us-the consumers feel more comfortable spending on products we consider "green". They take advantage on advertising to magnified every aspect of their product that is healthy for the environment. The thing is do they have any profit to prove that their claims are accurate? The organic labels have become very common. We can find tons of "feel-good labeling" in any grocery store. New marketing labels being reached to food packages, we sometimes do no have a clue about what they mean. Advertising blinding us with excessive nutritional information and health claims to make us feel comfortable to buy their products, use exaggerating language to overstate the environmental benefit and make claims that can not be verified.

An article in Business Week 2008 stated that consumer demand for organic production has increased lately, leading organic into an over $20 billion a year business. This encouraged corporations to move into organic business. The article also mentioned that consumers can go to a useful website to find more information about untruthful organic food labeling instead of sending email or making a call to a company to verify what a claim means or as for proof.

The questions for companies that are using misleading advertising on organic food that is " If consumers lose faith in product labeling, will they be affected by that?"

Know Your Products to Avoid Greenwashing

Going green is an increasing trend throughout much of the world, and many people care about the carbon footprint they leave behind and they therefore attempt to buy green as often as they can. Where ecological intelligence comes in is the ability to determine if something labeled as green is exactly that, or if there are some underlying issues in production that could be considered less than green. An example would be if someone were to buy a 100% cotton t-shirt made of organic cotton. While that label makes that seem a positive thing because that means pesticides were not used, nowhere on the label does it mention the fact that organic cotton still requires almost 3,000 gallons of water to grow enough fiber for one t-shirt or that pollution-causing industrial dyes may have been used on it. When all factors are considered, it decreases in organic value, which is what made it appealing in the first place.
For the average consumer attempting to go green and realizing that the products they’re choosing may not really be supporting the cause after all, the attempts to make greener decisions can be frustrating. Fortunately there are sites out there to guide consumers by doing research and giving ratings on how green a specific industry and product line really are. One such website is called Good Guide. The site rates a product’s health performance, environmental performance, and social performance. It gives the option of either looking at the ratings alone or to see all data behind its rating, so it is a valuable source for those who wish to truly make green choices, instead of making choices based on a label that gives a false impression of being green.

Greenwashing

Tonia Castilleja Portland State University

Greenwashing is a term used to describe the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly, such as by presenting cost cuts as reductions in use of resources. In fact this 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. This is often by changing a label or name of a product, to give the feeling of nature. Some great examples would be putting a forest on it. Environmentalists often use greenwashing to describe the actions of energy companies, which are traditionally the largest polluters.

When reading some of these entries I was awed that I have not paying as much of attention to this matter as I would like. Know that I am aware of this issue I will be keeping my eyes open more for these type of actions. Here are just a few examples of recent incidents:

In February 2007 lawyers for the NSW Minerals Council (NSWMC), the state's peak mining industry lobby group, initiated action to take down a website created by the Newcastle environment group, Rising Tide. The website parodied the mining industry's PR campaign "Life: Brought to you by mining". The NSWMC campaign was launched a little over a month before the New South Wales March 24 state election.

In August 2007 the New South Wales Greens complained to the Australian corporate regulator that Saab's "Grrrrrreen" advertising campaign makes deceptive claims and is greenwashing.[1] The "Grrrrrreen" ad states that "every Saab is green."

Unfortunately many of these scams have been around for a long time, but not publicized. It is very important many of us Americans stay in the loop on where our dollars are really going. We tend to be trust worthy of businesses to deligate money when in turn it is totally a front. These were some of cases I found.

Greenwash by Peichen Su

Greenwash is a term used to describe companies that deceive their customers to believe the companies are environmental friendly when they actually not.

One common case often being referred to is the bush Administration's clear Skies Initiative, which many have argued that it actually weakens air pollution laws.

As people are more and more aware of the environmental protection, the buzz word, "Green", has become famous, Most businesses, even schools, are trying to get a share in it to attract more customers. For example, "Green Apple" (Apple, Inc.) or "Green PSU". However, by putting on "Green" on their products, does it autometically mean that they are environmental friendly? Apparently not! Just as the previous article brought out, "Green" is like the word, "Organic", which consumers are not educated on what it really means but are somehow convinced that it is good for them. Therefore, companies are adding the word, "Green", to the companies' image and to attract more customers.

Such deceptions are all over businesses. One example I have found is Kleenex producer Kimberly-Clark, which was "named an EPA Energy Star Partner of the Year due to its 'ongoing efforts to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its operations.'" Yet, "it seems strange that a company which cuts down 200-year old greenhouse gas-absorbing trees should be praised for its reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. And if Kimberly-Clark can take the time to use sustainable energy, why can't it use sustainable resources--i.e. recycled fiber? Because as we recently learned, soft, fluffy recycled tissues are possible." (By Fast Company, for detail information, click here.)

Happily, April 2, 2009, the Australian Association of National Advertisers passed its Environmental Claims Advertising and Marketing Code. In the article, No Greenwash, Please - Industry Introduces Its Own Codes, Lee stated that "advertisers will no longer be able to use images of nature and call themselves "environmentally friendly" unless they can back up any green claims under new proposals put forward by the advertising industry. The new self-regulatory green marketing code - thought to be the first of its kind in the world - will also prevent companies from passing off a mandated environmental initiative as something it has voluntarily adopted. Advertisers will have to prove that the benefits to the environment are "significant" too." (For more information, click here.) Even though, we all know that advertising is deceiving, there are many customers still tend to buy in their words. Hence, with this code being introduced, customers can be protected from greenwash companies.

Greenwash- By Angie Thomason

To tell you the truth, I have never heard of Greenwashing until now. I am not surprised that there is an actual term for this. I have heard that companies will say that they're green when really they are not. After doing some research it is very clear on how bad it is. So first of all the term Greenwashing refers to the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy. (www.sourcewatch.org)
I feel that the biggest problem with Greenwashing is that there isn't enough awareness of the public. This is an important issue just as much as false labeling on so called "Organic" food products is but people don't know enough to recognize it. By educating the public on these issues hopefully we can raise awareness and put a stop to this. Source Watch provides you with information on detecting greenwash I have listed them below:

Rough rules of thumb for detecting greenwash

Big budget greenwash campaigns are designed to defuse scepticism of journalists, politicians and activists. Some rough rules of thumb for testing whether the claims made by a company, government or NGO stack up are:

* Follow the Money Trail: many companies are donors to political parties, think tanks and other groups in the community. Few companies actually disclose in their annual reports exactly whom they are donating to, even though it is shareholders money. Ask about all their donations, not just those they boast about in glossy documents such as the corporate social responsibility reports.

* Follow the membership trail: Many companies boast about the virtues of their environmental policy and performance but hide their anti-environmental activism behind the banner of an industry association to which they belong. Find out what industry association companies are members of and check and see what their policies are. Assume that all individual companies support the trade associations policy positions until such time as they publicly state that they don't agree with them or they resign. (See the article on the third party technique, a central plank in most PR campaigns).

* Follow the paper trail: Most companies, or their trade associations, will make submissions to government and other inquiries on a wide range of issues. Often these submissions will be posted to a website. They will also send lots of letters to politicians and government agencies, which can be accessed by Freedom of Information Act searches. Ask about submissions made by the company and their lobbying on issues you are interested in. You will probably discover that instead of lobbying for tougher environmental standards, they are busy trying to weaken the ones that exist.

* Look for skeletons in the company's closet: Every company has major problems that it doesn't want the public and regulators to know about. Some companies include information in the annual reports about problems that have been in the news in the last year. More often, there will have been problems, occasionally reported in the media, which they don't want to tell shareholders about. Check for information on the company with watchdog groups and in the media and compare that with what they disclose.

* Test for access to information: Many companies will make lofty claims about their commitment to transparency and providing information to 'stakeholders'. Don't just take them at their word. In their reports they will probably refer to environmental impact statements, reviews, audits, monitoring data and other information. If it relates to an issue you are interested in, ask to see it. And remember that 'commercially confidential' is just corporate speak for 'no'.

* Test for international consistency: Most companies will operate to different standards in other countries. Check and see whether their operating standards and procedures are consistent or whether they opt for lower standards where they think they can get away with it.

* Check how they handle their critics: Some companies go to extraordinary lengths to try and silence their critics. This can involve everything from legal threats (see the article on SLAPPs) to funding and collaborating with police and military forces.

* Test for consistency over time: It is common for a company to launch a policy or initiative and then starve it of funds. Or a company will make promises when they are under public pressure but never implement them when the spotlight fades.

Saturday, November 29, 2008
Are You Being Greenwashed?



After researching about Greenwashing and finding out how naive I have been as a consumer; I thought that I need to become more aware and informed. After reasearching and educating myself I found a wonderful article from the Greenpeace website that discusses the 4 criteria for determing if something is greenwashing or not:

4 criterias:

Dirty Business - Touting an environmental program or product, while the corporation's product or core business is inherently polluting or unsustainable. For example, if a company brags about its boutique green R&D projects but the majority of spending and investment reinforces old, unsustainable, polluting practices.

Ad Bluster - Using targeted advertising and public relations campaigns to exaggerate an environmental achievement in order to divert attention away from environmental problems or if it spends more money advertising an environmental achievement than actually doing it. For example, if a company were to do a million dollar ad campaign about a clean up that cost less.
Political Spin - Advertising or speaking about corporate "green" commitments while lobbying against pending or current environmental laws and regulations. For example, if advertising or public statements are used to emphasize corporate environmental responsibility in the midst of legislative pressure or legal action.
It's the Law, Stupid! - Advertising or branding a product with environmental achievements that are already required or mandated by existing laws. For example, if an industry or company has been forced to change a product, clean up its pollution or protect an endangered species, then uses PR campaigns to make such action look proactive or voluntary.


It's the Law, Stupid! - Advertising or branding a product with environmental achievements that are already required or mandated by existing laws. For example, if an industry or company has been forced to change a product, clean up its pollution or protect an endangered species, then uses PR campaigns to make such action look proactive or voluntary.


These 4 criterias can be viewed on http://stopgreenwash.org/


Hope they can help you become better informed as they have done for me!

Cynthia Pestner