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The Eco-Capitalist by Tom Szaky
September 7, 2008
How Do We Know You Aren't Just Green Washing?
Posted at 9:31 PM
As the CEO of a company that proudly touts its products as eco-friendly, I am often asked by reporters, investors, and others, "How do we know you aren't just Green Washing?" For TerraCycle, the answer is easy. We manufacture and package most of our products entirely from waste -- Including a lot of non-recyclable waste. So if weren't making use of the waste, you can be sure it would be in a landfill somewhere.
But the question makes me think about the products I see people use everyday. How many are green washing and how many are truly environmentally friendly. The watchdog group CorpWatch defines greenwashing as "the phenomena of socially and environmentally destructive corporations or governments attempting to preserve and expand their markets or power by posing as friends of the environment." Well it's easy to tell when governments are green washing -- take George Bush's Clear Skies program, for example. Sure Clear Skies sounds great, but the program actually weakens the Clean Air Act and results in less regulation of air pollutants.
It's much harder to decipher the true environmental value of consumer products. That's because the claims are harder to fact check and quantify. Sure, the product might be made from Organic Cotton, but if it's shipped it to China to be manufactured and then shipped back, then how eco-friendly could it really be? But how do you know? Many consumers, busy with jobs and families, have little choice but to take things at face value.
Oddly enough, some products that seem like clear examples of green washing turn out to be truly green. After seeing many lawn mower companies claiming to be green, I wondered, "How eco-friendly could a lawn mower really be?" Then I met the founder of Neuton, Inc., who gave me a sample of his battery-operated lawn mower. I was wrong. Some battery-operated lawn mowers are in fact green.
Some products sound so eco-friendly and yet are misleading the public. My (least) favorite example of this is the profileration of the "Eco-Shaped" water bottle being marketed by Poland Springs and others. It is "Eco-Shaped" because it uses 30 percent less plastic than the old bottle. But what about the other 70 percent? It is not even post-consumer plastic. So how "Eco" is that shape?
Are there examples of green washing that irk you? Or, more interestingly, what are some surprising items you had pegged for Green Washing but were surprised to find are truly green?
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I agree. It would be great if there was a reliable way to to "green index" products on the market.
Ack, Tom! So what's the answer. What is the everyday environmentally conscience consumer to do if they can't spend half an hour researching every product before purchasing? Do you have a couple easy rules to help determine true "green-ness"?
And my annoyance - ok. Here it is. I love reusable bags and it seems EVERYone has them for sale now and super cheap. That's great! But - they themselves are often not recycled or nothing is mentioned that they are made from used materials which leads me to believe they are not. So that irks me, but even worse is this. Without some kind of incentive to reuse the bag when shopping so that you don't consume paper or plastic (the entire purpose!), how many consumers purchase the bag, thinking "what a great, responsible idea!, and for only $1.99? how could I say 'no'?" but then throw it in the back of their car never to be seen again?
I am annoyed at the lack of follow through with companies. Like the appearance of being green is more important than actually BEING green. Bah!
Excellent green washing example. i too was perplexed when i saw that Poland Spring was using this ploy as a means for green marketing.
I can't stand the clothing that I've seen EVERYWHERE - mainly targeted towards kids and teens - they say recycle, or save the planet, or whatever - it's a great message - but for the most part they're all made in China, shipped half way around the world, no organic or responsibly cultivated materials or appropriate wages for the employees that make them. You have to wonder why someone would purchase these clothing items, or purses, hats, and accessories if they actually DID care about social and environmental responsibility. By doing so they are acting in the exact opposite manner.
no company is truly "green". every industrial pursuit has negative externalities. we can only simply hope to reduce our impact at the moment. humans, by nature, destroy earth. it is unfortunate, but true. until we intregrate green practices in all that we do, it will continue this way.
poland should be commended for reducing their packaging, it is a step in the right direction. they are thinking.
even the production of your bicycle, Tom, had negative environmental effects. sorry. not trying to be mean.
think of what you do, think of the impact, and reduce. if we all think and reduce, then others will be forced to think and reduce, eventually changing everything. given time a good thought can grow. keep up the good work terracycle.
easy solutions.
Maybe we need to be willing to take a few seconds to assess green claims critically, just as with nutrition/function/value claims. since environmental degradation comes back to harm us and future generations, not stopping to question seems akin to knowingly consuming small amounts of toxic compounds on a daily basis.
Greenwashing advertising....digg this http://www.greenwashingindex.com/
Good general and specific guidance - newdream.org, daily-acts.org, coopamerica.org
Many "green" products seem like a wash because they are so defined on limited factors, often only one these days....greenhouse gas emissions.
Is any product we don't need really "green?" Just like the greenest kWh is the one you never use, the greenest product is one of the same you already own, or make from materials on hand.
How 'green' are non-local organic foods? My ancestors are from Europe and I grew up eating off the family farm. Why do I need a banana for my potassium? Organic or not, is it "green?"
Water filters are promoted as "green" alternatives to bottled water. Water filters are not accepted for recycling in the USA, though consumer campaigns are mounting (takebackthefilter.org). Since when do we all need to filter our water? Largely unnecessary, not recyclable. Makes me blue, not green.
Is any product made of or packaged in pre-consumer recycled materials...basically factory scrap due to bad design, processing, planning..really green? Waste that should never have happened...tied to resource use through the lifecycle that was never needed. This kind of waste is 9x the waste left in the consumer's hand at the end of the line...making green product claims in general a bit sketchy.
I question how "green" the Prius is on a lifecycle basis, and won't buy one because I haven't seen a convincing analysis (and because I have trouble supporting 'green' products that are financially unattainable for average folks).
Hmmm. I guess I question a lot of products....My own approach has been to not buy or obtain anything new, outside of food and personal care which I buy in bulk, and a few exceptions where health or functionality would be an issue. Then I look for 100% organic/recycled products made regionally and locally in 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging.
Unfortunately, if more people did this, more companies would be in the red perhaps?
Back again with 2 questions....
Is an 'all natural' product really green though the ingredients may well be non-organic and thus grown with synthetic agrochemicals that impact worker and environmental health? A new "all natural" personal care certification recently launched - with significant opposition from personal care brands that are truly organic. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122099934231816811-email.html?mod=dist_smartbrief. Understandable – many “all natural” things are toxic, like various mushrooms, making the concept questionable.
Are Greenhouse gas offsets from landfill methane capture and incinerator heat recovery "green" or a greenwash over our growing waste problem? Should I mail my non-recyclable wrappers to TerraCycle to save landfill space, emissions and new resource use or put them in the trash to generate energy. Personally, I think I'd vote for TerraCycle.
Hey Melissa,
Great questions. Natural is a slippery slope. Too many products claim to 98% Natural, when they are made form 98% water and 2% active ingrediants. Of course the water is natural!
At TerraCycle we try to give more exact claims that are not misleading. For example our Cleaners are rated by an independent 3rd party as non-toxic and biodegradable. These are claims that less likely to be misleading. 98% natural means nothing if you don't know what the other 2% is, whereas a non-toxic product has got to be entirely free of toxic chemicals.
As for the landfill question, that a big gray area, while capturing and using methane from landfills is incredibly important it is only a partial answer. Most landfills do not use this process and the methane captured in most cases does not begin to offset the carbon emissions used to manufacture and ship around the product.
Of course we prefer you to end it to TerraCycle to be upcycled ad don't worry we offset all carbon emissions from the shipping in our waste collection programs.
How does TerraCycle offset all carbon emissions from the shipping in your waste collection programs?
Going green and paying attention to the environment is a great idea, but lying about the "greenness" of your products or announcing you’re green before you are is just bad communication. In our business, we call that spin. And spin is bad.
Jumping on the green bandwagon just to expand your customer base or get a quick headline is plain old unethical.
Gini Dietrich
Chief Executive Officer
Arment Dietrich, Inc.
www.spinsucks.com
Hey. For anyone interested more in the details of a few different products, here is an article, that, in detail, dissects 3 different products to determine their actually greeness. I found it really intriguing. Thanks, Tom, for this blog. It is a great resource for learning more about modern environmentalism.
http://www.nationalpost.com/life/footprint/story.html?id=798024
I certainly want to applaud your efforts to upcycle items such as Capri Sun pouches. Very cool designs, great local employment in my former home state of NJ, etc.
But at a different level, wouldn't it be better if those pouches never came into existence in the first place. How hard is it to pack a lunch where juice sourced from a big cardboard container is poured into a reused ("home-upcycled") drink bottle? Too much effort? Too uncool? Until we overcome those issues, we are, I'm afraid, grasping at green straws.
And another question is whether your collection brigades and fundraisers for worthy causes actually subtly encourage people to buy yet more Capri Sun. And is this, and not altruistic green-ness, the real underlying reason why the marketing geniuses at Capri Sun are sponsoring and encouraging your business?
I don't want to be discouraging. I just want us to think deeper about what's really happening.
I wholeheartedly agree with Donald. While I totally support this kind of effort, frankly local governments aren't doing enough to collect various kinds of materials, but a lot of the fault is from the companies producing the goods that aren't recyclable through conventional means, like drink boxes that have both paper and metal pieces. This is where the most change needs to occur.
I see terracycle as a business that only can exist in a market like we have right now, where we still have large-scale production of wasteful material that is not regulated in any way in terms of environmental impact. If our government, like other governments around the world addressed the packaging issue (which is what we are really talking about) and actually stepped up and REQUIRED materials to be not only minimally packaged, but done so with fully recyclable and safe materials, then we would see a tremendous reduction of waste across the board.
It does make sense too that collecting specific kinds of packaging does I think on some level encourage the consumption of those products, resulting in a positively-reinforcing upward spiral of the further production of non-recyclable material, which isn't good either.
I wanted to respond to the comment made by Melissa Schweisguth:
"I question how "green" the Prius is on a lifecycle basis, and won't buy one because I haven't seen a convincing analysis"
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 2007, the 2008 Prius is the most fuel efficient car sold in the U.S.[2] The UK Department for Transport also reported the Prius is tied as the third least CO2-emitting vehicle on sale in the UK.
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