A Wordle for your thoughts?

The Greenwash Brigade

Hi everyone — I’m Jo, and I hide behind the scenes most of the time here. I’ve been thinking about the topics we cover on the Greenwash Brigade, and I wonder if we’re getting to the things you want us to be getting to — especially because what is “green” and what is “greenwash” is constantly evolving.

Here’s a Wordle to illustrate the topics that come up most often on the blog, to prompt your thinking:

Got ideas for what you want us to write about? Use that handy little “suggest a topic” button in the upper right-hand corner of the blog, or just leave a comment here.

February 4, 2009 by Jo Easton
1 comments

tags: Topics

Comments (1)

Harold Satterlee | Respond
February 6, 2009 6:58 AM PT

For Greenwash analysis:

Green overpricing - products to save energy and the planet that are priced not based on the cost of making and marketing the product but overpriced based on how much the marketer can presume that you are going to save. Example is radiant barrier sprayed onto the underside of the roof in the attic. One advertisement says 'call this week only for a $500 dollar discount.' If you can sell it with that big of a discount for a week, it must be way overpriced all the rest of the time. Someone that spends not more than an hour of labor spraying stuff under the roof does not need to overcharge by $500 to make a reasonable profit. And why won't builders install radiant barrier under the roof when they build the houses? Or at least offer it as an upgrade?

They excuse this overpricing by saying you will save so much that it will pay for itself in 10 years. Why not make a reasonable profit and let the buyer see a return of investment after 1 year? More people will buy it at a reasonable price. And the more people that buy it the more the planet is saved.

Green overpricing is exploitation of peoples' good will and hurts the cause of the planet.

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Meet the Greenwash Brigade

Our hand-picked environmental professionals, each part of the Public Insight Network, are on the hunt for "greenwash" as they examine eco-friendly claims by companies, governments and other groups. They ask tough questions about the mainstreaming of green, from the perspectives of people in the trenches who are focused on these issues 24/7.

Jim Nicolow is a nationally recognized expert on sustainable design and leads the sustainability initiative for Lord, Aeck & Sargent, overseeing the incorporation of sustainable design strategies and features into the firm’s design projects. He is a LEED® Accredited Professional with extensive knowledge of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED rating system.

Janne K. Flisrand has worked as an affordable housing and urban planning research consultant for five years, primarily supporting local non-profits. Her focus is on transit, transit-oriented design, affordable housing, and sustainability. Currently, she’s the program coordinator for Minnesota Green Communities, a program promoting affordable, healthy, sustainably built housing throughout Minnesota.

Dennis Markatos-Soriano recently completed a Master's in Public Affairs at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. He is now launching Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) to help individuals and institutions move from dependence on oil and gas to an efficient use of renewables. Previously, he co-founded SURGE (Students United for a Responsible Global Environment), which aims to bring young progressives together across issues of environmental and social justice throughout North Carolina and beyond. In the summer of 2006, he helped to start a small green company, Greenway Pedicabs, to provide a greenhouse gas-free transportation option for people in the Triangle of North Carolina.

Heidi Siegelbaum is a principal with Calyx Sustainable Tourism and works primarily on advancing sustainable tourism practices. She also specializes in science translation, cross-border indicators with Canada, cross-disciplinary planning and environmental technical assistance to businesses. Previously, she was in-house legal counsel for EPA for industrial chemicals and biotechnology and the senior performance measure analyst with the Washington State Department of Ecology. She is on the technical advisory committee of the Seattle Culinary Academy and a long standing member of the Chefs Collaborative.

NOTE: The opinions expressed by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of American Public Media or its employees. American Public Media is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers.

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