Marketplace

How bad is greenwash? Well, it depends.

Siegelbaum: The debate between Joel Makower of GreenBiz.com and Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation on the magnitude of greenwashing has been fascinating, although a tad touchy.

It illustrates some compelling contrasts:

• Privately held companies enjoy relative freedom to pursue sustainability, while public companies suffer from a psychotic drive to deliver unreasonable short-term profits.
• There's a big difference between whole-company and singular product assessments.
• Products are often the only face of a company for most people. And as they "green," companies often miss an opportunity to to showcase their environmental efforts: putting an 800-number on their newly-minted green products that would connect consumers with R&D or the sustainability group. Instead, they often make make isolated, environmental product claims without any context for the company as a whole.
• Activist and non-activist bloggers as well as government agencies and non-profits employ a range of approaches to help "course correct" misleading statements and develop third-party standards and definitions that everyone can play by.

Without going into the particular examples Hollender uses (and yes, advertising a product that's not for sale is pure cowpie, please!), companies in the throes of sustainability change would fare much better against the greenwashing pundits if they:

• Connected PR and marketing firms and in-house branding with their sustainability and R&D folks to avoid hyperbole in green marketing claims;
  
• Aligned their lobbying efforts with their sustainability progress --it's almost impossible to take a company's sustainability work seriously when its lobbying mimics that of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and underscores the relentless pursuit of that ill-conceived notion that inefficiency will make the US more competitive; and
  
• Worked with NGOs and government agencies like EPA's Design for Environment program and the Environmental Working Group to collaborate on US chemical policy reform (often at the core of many product greenwashing claims in consumer products).

Consumers are confused and greenwashing does cause harm: to companies in the process of change that do deserve to be supported in that continuum of change, and to consumers whose quests to green their lives are strangled by cynicism when they find out the product didn't live up to its fuzzy marketing hyperbole. Greenwashing is also a distraction at some level from the fundamental, core things that must change to save our collective cabooses.

For a nostalgic example, check out this Saturn VUE ad from way back in 2002: (Credit: CorpWATCH)

For anyone who read Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society, by the peripatetic Peter Senge and his colleagues, we are being faced by the indisputable limitations of an earth that will get her way.

This urgency and the true magnitude of what's at stake will require much more than a 20-year roll-out of greener products and carbon accounting. It will require fundamentally changing the values (opens PDF) upon which companies operate, including the role of financial institutions, NGOs, and other stakeholders.

It will require understanding how to market (opens PDF) with context and balance and, though we know it's difficult, opening up boardroom conversations to the people and communities with interests at stake. It may require the company of the future.

"It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.'You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary." -- Winston Churchill

Nicolow: With environmental concerns firmly entering the mainstream, the growing demand for environmentally responsible products has most conventional companies scrambling to demonstrate that they're green. It's quicker and easier to change a message than to change business processes, so we'll inevitably see some pretty egregious greenwash in the lag before these companies (hopefully) begin to make real changes.

Some in the marketing industry envision a coming change, not just toward more environmentally responsible consumer products, but away from the rampant consumerism that defined the past two decades. In an interesting July 30th post on Off-Grid.net, Alex Benady repots that "advanced industrial countries like the US and UK are moving toward a post-consumer era -- less materialist and more spiritual."

Benady quotes Sir Martin Sorrell, the CEO of WPP Group (the world's largest communications services group) in his view that "conspicuous consumption is not productive, and should be discouraged." Sorrell chastises companies like Apple for "fostering a mindset of super-consumption, where expensive items made at a vast cost to the earth's resources quickly become unfashionable and are expected not to last."

Benady cites John Grant, author of the "Green Marketing Manifesto," who contends that consumers will not just shift their spending to "low-energy goods," such as local foods, but also fundamentally re-define the concept of "ownership." Grant foresees 'fractional ownership' where products are shared (like Zip Car), and 'treasuring' with a return to the higher-quality products that are repaired and maintained.

Grant sees these changes coming in the next five to ten years, in which case the "advertising industry just cannot exist in its current form."

Interesting times.

• August 6, 2008 by Jo Easton
• 2 comments

• tags: Greenbiz Hollender Makower Seventh Generation

Will Congress block the Michael Phelps of American energy?

All federal leaders these days like to give lip service to a secure and sustainable energy future for our country. But unless they renew a version of the renewables Production Tax Credit (PTC) over the next couple months, I call greenwash.

Renewable electricity is like the Michael Phelps of our energy system. While coal, natural gas and nuclear grow at rates between 0 and 6.5% per year, wind and solar regularly clock speeds of 35-45% growth! Some may claim that this quick growth will moderate and is all due to the small base they are growing from. But these last couple of years pose a serious challenge to that assertion. Solar continues to be a small contributor to the energy pie providing less than .2% of US electricity. However, many analysts predict its cost is about to drop more than 30% over the next two and a half years due largely to a catch-up in the supply of modules’ key feedstock, polysilicon. If that happens, solar can quickly accelerate its rise toward the ranks of major energy sources.

Wind is already beginning to join the club due to the last few years of phenomenal growth. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) just announced that the US overtook Germany as the largest wind power producer in the world during the second quarter. Even though its nameplate capacity is currently lower than Germany’s (though may not be by the end of this year), the greater strength of our wind means that our turbines generate more electricity. I thought it would be tough for wind to follow its record-breaking growth of 2007 when its capacity shot up 5.24 GW or 45%. But this year, the current list of 9 GW waiting to be installed on top of the 2.7 GW installed during the first half of the year makes AWEA project another 45% growth (or ~7.5 GW!) is about to take place. After being a miniscule player for years, wind has now unseated oil as the fifth-largest source of US electricity and will pass 1.5% by the end of the year. This is an astonishing feat, moving us close to the time when we will be able to call on clean power to provide all of our new energy demand.

That is, as long as we don’t block our Olympic hopeful from its potential. A crucial ingredient to wind’s successful rise has been the federal PTC of ~2 cents per kWh. There were three years during this decade when the PTC was not renewed, resulting in a 73-93% drop in installations from the previous year. If federal leaders turn their back on wind power and other renewables at a time when our country needs its jobs and its energy more than ever, then they are failing us and the planet. If they decide to lower the PTC now that wind is more competitive with other sources of electricity, that is understandable. But to not renew it would be to abandon one of our key tools to mitigate the energy and climate challenges ahead. Congress (including Presidential candidates), will you step up?

• August 14, 2008 by Dennis Markatos
• 0 comments

• tags: Congress Michael Phelps of energy production tax credit wind power

Taking the temperature on Olympics greenwash

This Olympics has been a special one. The accomplishments of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Yang Wei & co. show us all what the human body can do when dedicated focus and positive spirit are applied. Great examples of sportsmanship have shone in Shawn Johnson’s support for her roommate, friend and competitor Nastia Liukin for the all-around gymnastics gold medal. The USA “Redeem Team” basketball players show respect for their opponents even as they win by huge margins. And a crucial theme emphasized at the opening ceremony in Beijing was stewardship of our natural world.

Advertisements — a cultural thermometer — have been encouraging to me too. Many ads from GE and others are emphasizing environmental responsibility. Obama’s key ad in the first week focused on the potential of US manufacturers to solve the current energy price escalation by ushering in the next generation of efficiency and renewable technology. Automobile ads from Chevy and VW concentrate on fuel economy — perhaps the single most important advance for American transportation in the years ahead.

There are still silly ads pretending McCain will “take on big oil” even though a centerpiece of his energy policy is opening up more areas offshore and elsewhere to oil producers. But the most encouraging development to me was from Yao Ming. China’s top basketball star made his billion-plus fans proud by helping his team to the medal round, and became the first “UN Environmental Champion.” I believe such star endorsements are critical to help catalyze cultural change. With China recently becoming the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, it’s important for our Earth that environmental values help steer the nation’s pollution levels from quick growth to stabilization and then reduction.

The constant question on this forum is whether talking the talk will translate into walking the walk. I’m inspired by the cultural shifts occurring, as they’re a prerequisite for positive action by the public and private sector leaders in the position to face the environmental challenges of our generation.

Now is the time for us to hold companies and politicians to their word. What ideas do you have to hold them accountable?

• August 19, 2008 by Dennis Markatos
• 0 comments

• tags: advertising green values Olympics Yao Ming

On green one-upmanship at the DNC and RNC

Both the Democrats and Republicans appear to be scrambling in a game of one-upmanship to host “the greenest national convention ever.” While that’s commendable, I’m a heck of a lot more interested in seeing some thoughtful green policies.

The green building movement really led the charge in greening conferences, but it was dictated by the conference content. Organizations like the American Solar Energy Society, the U.S. Green Building Council, and Southface Energy Institute have been challenging conference venues to green their operations for years, even choosing cities based on their green initiatives.

With the political parties, the lion’s share of their environmental footprint is their policies, not the food they serve at these once-every-four-years events. When I see the RNC providing bicycles to conference attendees while promoting ‘clean coal’ (brought to you by the manufacturers of ‘jumbo shrimp’) and expanded drilling, I call it greenwash. It’s like the GMC Suburban-driving shopper with re-usable grocery bags. Nice gesture, but the Suburban’s the elephant in the room (so to speak).

Thankfully, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer’s speech last night to the DNC assuaged my cynicism slightly:

“…we face a great new challenge, a world energy crisis that threatens our economy, our security, our climate and our way of life. … America consumes 25 percent of the world’s oil, but has less than 3 percent of the reserves. You don’t need a $2 calculator to figure that one out. There just isn’t enough oil in America, on land or offshore, to meet America’s full energy needs. … Invest $150 billion over the next 10 years in clean, renewable energy technology. This will create up to 5 million new, green jobs and fuel long-term growth and prosperity.”

Let’s see some green policy one-upmanship!

• August 27, 2008 by Jim Nicolow
• 8 comments

• tags: conferences Democrats DNC policy Republicans RNC