Beware of Greenwashing! [Part 1 of 2]

Imagine that you are on you way to work after a trip to another city in which you met with team members from other company sites to be recognized and rewarded for your efforts on taking the whole company green.  You feel good.  Your work is recognized, the company is doing the right thing; life is good.  Then your cell phone rings.  It is a co-worker stating that your company was just listed by an environmental group as a company that is derelict on the environment.  Your company is being held out as a poster child of what not to do.  How could this happen?  Why did it happen?  What is going to happen to your career?

While an imaginary exercise, the potential for this scenario to play out is all too real.  You can try hard.  Your company can try hard.  However, you can still be called out for greenwashing. 

‘Greenwashing’ is a term first used by Jay Westerveld who wrote an article about hotel industry practices.  The term has grown in popularity since and a quick search on the Internet will yield various articles and opinions.  The idea though is that a company will claim an environmental virtue that is either untrue or counterbalanced by some negative element.  In fact, as listed on Wikipedia, there are now seven elements to consider.  They are:

• Hidden trade-off;
• No proof;
• Vagueness;
• Irrelevant;
• Fibbing;
• Lesser of two evils;
• False labels.

 For more insight into these seven categories, please visit the Wikipedia site.    

While there are obvious, to all of us, companies that actively ‘greenwash’ many more companies do not but still may not meet another party’s standards of environmental action and, therefore, be labeled as a ‘greenwasher.’  What can one do to prevent this type of occurrence or at least work to reduce it?

The first thing to do is NOT actively greenwash.  The act of not greenwashing is actively, and immediately, followed by the need to set a high standard for your organization.  You are likely nodding your head on these comments but asking yourself how you, in a purchasing and procurement role, can influence the marketing arm of your organization.  It will not be easy, but you can start.  Start by using an assessment such as that discussed in the last blog edition.  Start by working with your end users to have the knowledge to specify greener products.  Work with your EHS department to block certain substances and activities.  Finally, work with your marketing department to give them insight into your activities so whatever they specify is based on facts – on good, green facts.  You can make a change.

Still, you might find that all your efforts do not go rewarded by 100% of the environmental groups.  Some have tighter standards or specific issues that are more difficult to address.  Unfortunately, this is the reality in which we operate today.  You can try very hard and make accomplishment, but you are no longer rewarded for improving, you are only rewarded for meeting the ultimate goal.  The playing field is not level.  For example, have you ever realized that some industries are inherently green and some others are inherently not green?  How does one, especially an environmental group, separate these companies?

Continue to read about ‘Greenwashing’ in the next Green Purchasing Blog at www.recyclechain.com

This entry was posted on 8. July 2010 at 04:06 and is filed under Green Procurement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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