The Environment and “Greenwashing”
The importance of protecting and not harming the environment is an issue that more and more Americans are paying attention to, especially after Vice President Al Gore’s influential documentary (movie based on true events) An Inconvenient Truth.
American companies are trying to appeal (make more attractive) to consumers (people who buy products) by claiming that their products are “earth-friendly” or “eco-safe,” when it is not clear whether they are or not. (Eco is short for ecology, which is the study of how people and other living things interact with their environment.) This is called “greenwashing,” since the color green is associated with nature and the environment. This new word comes from the old term “whitewashing,” which means to cover up or hide a mistake, problem, or flaw (imperfection; weakness). Greenwashing, then, means that a company is trying to hide the real way it does business by saying or claiming that the way their products are made does not harm the environment.
The U.S. government regulates (controls; supervises) how some words are used in advertising. For example, companies must meet minimum (lowest acceptable) requirements before they can call their products “organic” (grown or developed naturally, without chemicals) or “recycled” (turning waste or garbage into new products). However, right now, there are no regulations about who can use terms like “eco-friendly” and “environmentally-safe.” So, buyers looking for “green” products have to beware (be careful). We have to ask ourselves: “Is this a product that will not harm the environment or is the company simply “greenwashing?”
~ Lucy
April 17th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Many people says fore sure biofuel is a greenwashing product.
gulls
April 17th, 2008 at 10:11 am
The sky is really beatiful in the photo, so blue…… and the field green green green……….., I like the clouds a lot.
Nothing that we do or product may be earth-friendly, as we are killing everything on the face of earth since the human being has been created.
But now is worst, because we are too many, and with our acts against nature wasting so many water, oil, wood, food, and so on, this poor earth
is going to destruction faster than ever.
We have to change our minds inside, thinking that we have to save much more about all the earth so generously is giving us. Not consume so
many and sharing out with other poor people all what we, the power society, are wasting everyday.
When I listen to these persons talking about eco-safe, or organic foods, or earth-friendly and they do nothing about their way of life wasting so
many water, food, oil, and they don’t want to renounce to nothing….I am really very angry. Talk and talk beautiful words but do nothing about
our healthty way of life.
Sorry, this matter touch me very close, and I am a little fed up with this full healthy society that sorround me. Rich and powerfull countries not only do
anything about the matter but they preach us as well with greenwashing advertises.
Thanks Lucy, this is a big problem that we human have with our habitat. And I think we have to change our habits being much more austere if really want
to save our earth.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Sorry, when I say healthy…I want to say wealthy (such a big mistake), sorry again.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Hello Lucy, That´s a good question.
Nowadays more and more people are worried with planet´s helth, and we have a big power as cosumers.
Is of our business to filter what we buy in order to press the biggest companies to build products more eath-friendly.
Thks
Ed.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:26 am
It is much more difficult than it looks to figure out whether companies are legitimately green or not. The best course is still to reduce our consumption, recycle, reuse, and grow our own.
April 17th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I think , a compagny must to be eco if it earns a lot of money.
T h a n k y o u
April 21st, 2008 at 6:59 am
I’m sorry Gulls, but I’m brazilian and I really don’t know why people talk about biofuel or biodiesel as bad things! People don’t even know what is it all about and say things, horrible things about them. I’d like you and all the world to see how can it be good for everyone, not because we brazilian are saying that is good, but because it really is. Preconceptions of all kind always make us less human!
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:11 am
Alvaro it’s easy to understand why people are talking about biofuel or biodiesel as there have been an increasement of lands dedicated to produce such things and there is not enough food to eat now.
Cereals have desapeared and there are many nations that not have them to make bread, such Egypt, South Asia, North Africa, and so on.
Here in Europe all products maked with ceareals have increased the price very very much………and poor people haven’t enough money to pay that increasement in prizes.
So it’s neccesary to have in mind carefully all this matters, and not because biofuel/biodiesel is cheaper and has less poluttions every body or nation goes to product it
without thinking all the consequences.
What we have to do is just stopped our big comsumption, leave the car at home most of the times, take public transports, not to go every weekend to the mountains, or to the beach 60 or 100 Km. from our city, not to shower so many times a week wasting drinkable water, not throwing away so many food, and just thinking the way of saving energy.
Savage animals don’t waste anything, they take only what they need to survive. of course we are a little different from them …I don’t know if to be worst, but if human want to
survive on this earth I think it’s neccesary to imitate the way that savage animals, or othert human cultures have treated their enviroment. Just take what your need or little more, and as less we nedd as much better to the Earth.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:57 am
You are right Emiliano, not completely but you right when you think of how much we consume and how much we actually wast. Some people say we humans are the worst plague in the world and we all continue on destroying our beautiful planet! But we have enough land to produce food and biofuel here and brazil. There are a lot of things that the world don’t know about how we do things around here. For example we are creating a new way of processing our sugar-cane so we can double our production with the same quantity of it. We have in the same time made records of production of food and we didn’t only sell more because the products are subsidized there in the exterior. I just think that is not fair when something real good to everyone, that could help a lot, deserves this kind of treatment!That’s a shame!
April 24th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Thank you Alvaro for your words, and your explanations. But I suggest you to read “Times on Line” as just today a large article about Food Crissis, and the news that Wal-Mart
is starting to restrict sales of rice in USA (California) and other places, for the first time ever.
Also tells some news about the food crisis in other places over the world, (also Brazil) and mentioned something about biocombustibles.
Yes, I know what you mean when say that there some good examples of processing things such sugar-cane. or the using of bio combustibles by the bus in your cities which is more safe for enviroment. But there are lots of people that the only thing that have in mind is just to make money, and doesn’t care to destroy lands to make sure profit and not to produce what is neccesary to feed humans or to take care of earth enviroment.
Don’t miss the article, in “Times on Line” today 24.4, please, It is very interesting.
Greetings from Spain.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:48 am
I always thought that the cure always arrives after the disease already killed the patient!
It seems that we, mankind, will wait the world to get into a new world war to do something about!
Thanks Emiliano for your reading suggestion! I didn’t know what food crisis around the world was all about . I live in a part of Brazil that people have good quality of life. I live in the south and here things are better than in the northeast and north of my country, but even there “in the top side of my country” nothing is bad as it’s happening in Haiti or everywhere mentioned in the article. I suggest you to read “Bring on the Right Biofuels ” times online 24 4. That’s another point of view into the same newspaper about this issue!
Greetings from Umuarama - Paraná - Brazil
April 27th, 2008 at 11:18 am
It has to be a very nice place, I’m goint to see where Umuarama in Brazil is, but I know that the south of your Country is very nice and some times, if I were younger, I woulld like to go
there.
Yes, I want to read a little more about the matter, but I can say you that here in Europe, Asia, and Africa, food has increased a lot. Just because the crisis with cereals as there is not enough.
And egs, milk, chickens, meat, and nearly everything heve increased the prices as animals also eat cereals.
Greetings. emiliano