Don’t Be Fooled is a project of The Green Life’s Greenwash Campaign to explain, expose and eliminate greenwash in labeling, advertising and public relations.

Top Greenwashers:

AMERICA’S TEN WORST GREENWASHERS

1. Ford Motor Company
2. BP
3. United States Forest Service
4. ChevronTexaco
5. General Motors
6. Nuclear Energy Institute
7. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
8. TruGreen ChemLawn
9. Xcel Energy
10. National Ski Areas Association

From the report:

In this report we run a background check, investigating whether those credentials should be accepted. On the contrary, we find, they should in most cases be revoked, for rarely do they convey a company’s true identity.

An automaker that produces dozens of models of gas-guzzling SUVs opts to market its lone hybrid as proof of far-reaching environmental responsibility. An energy company uses solar to symbolize its commitment to a post-carbon future, even as all but a sliver of its operations are stuck in oil. And a chemical company touts its donation to a conservation group, made only to silence grassroots gripes about toxic pollution.

Dealing in lies of omission, image ads belong to a business strategy known as greenwash, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.” In addition to image ads, greenwash encompasses misleading product labels such as “all natural,” “biodegradable” and other vague descriptions used entirely at the discretion of the manufacturer, as well as improper applications of terms, for example, “organic” and “free range,” which are meaningful regarding certain products but unreliable with others.

Greenwash also covers a range of public relations tactics: front groups feigning public support for hidden anti-environmental agendas; scientists-for-hire who vouch for
industry-funded research; sustainability reports offering partial disclosure and spotty transparency; hollow mission statements and codes of conduct; contributions to innocuous nonprofits; community advisory panels that have access without influence; and sponsorship of Earth Day events, where local industry plays host to the people it poisons.

Bolstered by niche marketing inside the Beltway, voluntarism over the past decade has gained considerable political currency. However, after a trial period, it is apparent that self-regulation is no substitute for government mandates. Researchers studying voluntary environmental programs such as the chemical industry’s Responsible Care and the logging industry’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative have concluded that without concrete standards, independent oversight or the threat of enforcement, companies are not compelled to clean up their practices.

Thus greenwash is not part and parcel of environmental propaganda, boosting awareness of environmental problems in spite of its source. Instead, greenwash is itself an environmental problem, one that will persist, and likely worsen, until it no longer pays.

The Green Life webpage.

The entire report: DontBeFooled.pdf