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Has "Going Green" gone too far?
Posted by environmentalbooty • 3/28/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: green. green_marketing, green_business
Are you sick and tired of seeing Green marketing everywhere? Do you feel used by companies marketing Green products or services? Do you support the effort or are you suspicious that the impetus behind a green organization is only about the green...money that is?
User Comments
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the suits in the boardroom could care less about the environment (for the most part). It's all about marketing and profit margins. -
I like the "for the most part". Do you think it is mostly big business and or the small mom and pops too?
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I'm wary of companies who use "going green" as the new almighty bandwagon to drive sales.
However if a company really is going green, then I support their efforts.-
How can you tell the difference?
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I suppose you could tell if they changed their products/containers to recycled material or eco-friendly materials - or if you were able to find out that they have stopped using chemicals, animal testing whatever then you would know.
But that wasn't really my point, my point was that I would not want to discourage companies from going green because they don't want it to come across as a gimmick. -
I see.
Nice to see you. I haven't seen you around for a while.
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gimmick.... the oil companies are the worst-
How so? Should they not try at all?
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It's phoney. They're oil companies for crying out loud. They talk about all these great innovations, but they have aquired numerous patents that they have buried, so that oil use would continue to increase.
It's insulting to one's intelligence... a green oil company *shakes head* -
What do you suggest they do?
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Few people in this country do anything, anymore, unless it directly benefits them. I'm glad that being environmentally friendly has become a selling point, because it's the only reason most corporations will bother about it at all. -
Green-washing is a serious problem, and it's really frustrating for anyone who is looking for actual green solutions.
I recently decided to stop buying an all natural dishwashing liquid because the same company also makes 'all natural' disposable cleaning cloths. I now have to go to a completely different store just to get vegetable based cleaners, but it's worth it in my opinion.
Here's a little extra info on green-washing: www.squidoo.com/envirogreenwashing-
Thanks for the link! I have never heard the term Green Washing.
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we tried an eco-friendly dishwasher detergent recently by palmolive. I was very disappointed to have to stop using it. It left a coat of "soapy" powder on all of the dishes that didn't even come off after re-rinsing them. had to go back to the old stuff. Anyone have any suggestions for an eco-friendly brand that actually cleans stuff? -
So far I have been really pleased with products from Seventh Generation. They make vegetable based, petroleum free cleaners, many of them without dyes or fragrance. And they actually work!
They also make things like bleach-free diapers (not exactly green but certainly green-er!). They also don't use clear plastic containers, which is great.
The trouble is finding the products. I only know of one store that carries them in our area. They're a pretty big company though, you can find them on Amazon as well.
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As a LEED AP (Accredited Professional) in Texas, I get to meet business owners who are sincerely interested in green and sustainability. Those companies who are guilty of green washing are a point of frustration for businesses like mine, who really believe in what we're doing - and there are plenty of us. The great thing about organizations like LEED, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Forest Stewardship Council is that they help regulate businesses who are involved with them. If you have a LEED certified building, for instance, you HAVE to follow certain sustainable guidelines to stay certified. As far as green marketing itself goes, of course I support it. However, I do think it's gone a little overboard with the "green" this and "green" that, and would like to see better regulations on companies, products and services that say they're environmentally safe.
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Okay. So it is sometimes the word Green that is a turn off even to those in the industry. My poor hubby missed the LEED accreditation by one point. Sure would have been a help as he is looking for a job now.
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Environment issue is important and it's bad we only take consciousness now. And if we have taken consciousness of it it is because at the very top of the G7 there is now a political needs to do so. The super elites want people to adhere to Globalization so they need to use reason for that: for the right wing, terrorism, for the left wing, environment.
Unfortunately genuine environment activists risk to be silenced and green business advocates will take the place.
If you want to see a true environment project visit the Venus Project at thevenusproject.com
His founder has a big idea though I doubt it will be possible because of the huge mass conditioning that is going on to support the current system, because the current system makes believe it is becoming greener while in truth it generates more public cost for more private benefits. True Quality doesn't cost, it reduces cost.
There are genuine green businesses I know personnaly some which have great products unfortunately they have great difficulty to enter the market because they are not subsidized like the biggest ones.-
I hear you about being subsidized!
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Companies will only take the environment seriously to the extent that the customers take the environment seriously; if companies are proclaiming green credentials, it's because they feel compelled to react. This is the good part. The bad part is that many companies will try and make it so that going green doesn't hurt their bottom line - hence vigilance on the part of the consumer is absolutely necessary.
So: going green hasn't gone too far, but at the same time we should constantly question how green companies, institutions, etc. have gone.-
Going green is not really the question. We must go green. But we must not go the way the super financial elites want us to go green that is by pumping more and more money in our pockets.
I'm going to take a precise example. Bush signed a law to force Electricity Company to use 20% of Green Energy. And what a chance Europe did also decide the same thing (what synchronocity). But you know what it will cost 400% more to produce that kind of electricity than Oil whereas there are Green Energy that are cleaner and cheaper than oil. So if people do only look at the what and not at the HOW, it isn't worth because we and our children will live more and more miserably because the prize of energy will go up and up.
There are Greener solutions that cost less, more efficient and this is the proposal of the Venus Project ( thevenusproject.com) from Jacques Fresco a Scientist who should get the Nobel Prize for that.
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I actually think it doesn't go far enough. We need to have a social marketing campaign that is as intense and as well put together as the old 'wear seatbelts' and 'anti-smoking' campaigns. Both of those were very successful. We know that social marketing does work--and this is just way too important.
There is recent evidence that our climate problems are even worse than we thought--it oculd be catastrophic if people don't start ALL doing their part!
But everywhere I look, I see evidence of apathy--at the grocery store, the people who use cloth bags are in the GREAT minority. Reduce, reuse, and recycle need to become as natural as anything else we do.
We have a long way to go.-
Amen. I think sometimes people just don't know where to start. I am not sure why there isn't a campaign. That is a great thought.
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just another fad, like crystal clear pepsi. Except crystal clear pepsi was awesome to the max.-
Can I just say that I dig your name? I am just an Asshole.
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What did you think of blueberry Pepsi? Or do you remember it? It wasn't around long.
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Are you sick and tired of seeing Green marketing everywhere?
I actually am, the more I see it, the less I actually want to participate.. I am rebellious like that
Do you feel used by companies marketing Green products or services?
No, I usually avoid them
Do you support the effort or are you suspicious that the impetus behind a green organization is only about the green...money that is?
I am more suspicious than anything else-
I am rebellious as well. I think Jaybetee is right though "Going green is great. Even if it is a fad' it's one to get into because it can only do good things."
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eh when I see results I may think about it but until then it just seems to gimmicky to me.
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Going green is great. Even if it is a fad' it's one to get into because it can only do good things.
Not getting tired of "grenwashing" ( great term by the way), but I also don;t watch much TV anymore so i don't see a lot of ads. Like anything, don;t take what a company says at face value. Take some time and research the products.-
granted it does good things but I believe, unfortunately, that large companies will be on the bandwagon only as long as it is profitable.
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Mortira, you can find Seventh Generation Cleaning supplies and diapers here at click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=KyXUo9hGK/I&offerid=127265.10002630&t... .
Use code A410 for 10% off or code AFSHP4 for free shipping until 4-30-09. -
I wrote an article about Greenwashing: www.canadianmarketingblog.com/archives/2008/02/the_shameful_art_of_greenwas...
Being a marketer, it is something that seriously bothers me!!! It happens way too often. -
I had to check back in and see other people's answers. It's amazing the number of different views that people have. Some people say it's too much, others that it's not enough. It brought to mind the word "desensitized".
The problem is, I think, that the public can tell when it's being manipulated, and a huge "marketing" campaign like what has been done with "green" desensitizes. Ultimately, I think it inures people to the problem, turning it into (as cookingasshole said) "just another fad".
Maybe what we need is a new strategy - a new focus. Instead of "green energy", why can't it just be "clean energy"? Instead of "green products", why not "natural" or "eco-friendly"?
In other words, why does everything have to be (specifically) labeled "green" to mean "environmentally safe", "eco-friendly", "clean", etc? We have overused the word to the point that true concern for the environment is secondary.
How will we know when it becomes top priority? When nothing is "green" any more. When "green building" is just "building", but it means the same thing. When you don't have to have a label on something to know that it's good (or not harmful or causes as little harm as possible) for our environment, our health and our lives.-
Another thing about it is that some people are seeing it as the "Hippy Movement" of the 2000s.
I fully understand that renewable is good, but it has become such a catchphrase and talking point these days that it is almost cliche. When someone says that they are going green, or an ad come on TV for a dry cleaner saying that they are using the "Clean Earth" system... it is almost a "Groaner."
There are two people on my street that have hybrids... because of the amount of stop and go driving they do and the amount they carry in their cars, I actually get better mileage than they do.
It boils down to responsibility. I have saved more money replacing all the light switches in my house with timed or motion sensing switches and installing ceiling fans than I think they are saving in gas... about $140 a month. There is the guy the next street over that has a "Smart Car".
I am sorry... I laugh ever time I see one of those. I work for an insurance company and I saw one that was VERY badly damaged and the passenger injured when it was hit by a small vespa.
I digress... It is so much more, for the consumer, about just being conscious about what you do. It does not always require a lot of money.
Next year I will be installing a solar array on my house. The house next to mine has one, and the monthly PG&E bills are about $50 in summer and in winter there have been a couple months that they had a credit.
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Thank you all for your insight.
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If it works and the world gets a little 'greener' then I say keep it up no matter how over used the marketing phrases are. -
I kind of wish they used, "going blue" instead of green. -
I've recently visited an environment friendly resort in maldives and yes i think they are doing good with it.. but it was bit too much to the extent of suggesting that washing your bed sheets everyday will damage mama earth it was fine to me but for sensitive guests it wont work. they have this green little book in your villa-
That is a big one for me! When I go on a vacation I want clean sheets everyday but now I just do not fuss about it. One more way to help out so I am on board!
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Hmmm...interesting excuses.
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Don't talk about going green to a man over 60. It's a natural process.-
You're funny!
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The "green" label has certainly been used in lots of cynical ways, much like the way so many consumer products had American flags and illustrations of the World Trade Center on them after 9/11...even though not one penny of what you were paying for that product was going toward victims of the attacks or anywhere else other than the company's corporate pockets.
That's why you have to look carefully at things--don't assume "green" means anything other than that the company's trying to cash in (as you say, the other kind of "green")
By the way, visiting my blog helps the rainforests....-
Visit Dr. Jay's Blog!!
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What fabulous comments and insight! Thank you as I need these comments for a future blog post.
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it's really just become a way to advertise and convince people to buy things. i know i am super sick of hearing about it, and the "environmentally friendly" stuff is so much more expensive, particularly when it's clothes.
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We live in a globalized capitalistic world. Everything that can be marketed will/is marketed.
Our species has got to become incredibly more efficient in regards to the usage of the planets resources, if we are going to continue to survive. If the commercialization of "Going Green" is what helps us to achieve this, then I am all for it. However, from what I have read, our current "Going Green" efforts are far to little, to late. ...But, it's something...-
You said it right "SWAY", hope "rfburnhertz" and "xmarks" will get a little enlightened. They should see also how "GREENPEACE", bereft of funding and commercialization does INSPIRING ACTIONS- volunteering and battling for the world's survival, watch them here:
zyberdon.0lx.net/wpblog
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no -
It work both ways, there's big money in the the green industry and products like Wind Turbine, Solar Panels & Streetlamps, Water to Gas, Solar Thermal Power Plant- their demand will be huge- and it should not bore anyone to be working on saving our planet while making money on the sides.
Visit Your Alternative Lifesite:
juneayasol.googlepages.com
ZyberDon
juneayasol.ipower.com/flyingcar -
The whole deal is a shame, a waste of time and personal energy as well as a waste of money. -
Many companies are going green just to get your dollar. They don't really care about the green part. Then again, if their green efforts actually lead to an improved product, what do I care about their intentions. I only really care about the result.-
Most companies that are "going green" are doing so because they are forced in to it.
Of course they are after your dollar, they are in business to earn a living and create wealth there is no other reason to be in business.
That many companies could give a crap less about the green thing is not a surprise and that they fake interest and concern is also not a surprise. What are they suppose to do, say that they were forced into going green by the government and admit they don't believe the hype?
How well would their products sell on such a statement?
You care about the result, the result is going to be disastrous and the businesses that were forced into this pile of crap will be blamed for it. We will then look to government to get us out of the pile of crap they [the government] put us in which will result in more governmental control.
A sad state of affairs that too many saps have fallen for. -
what?
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Blogged about this recently
angelalovell.blogspot.com/2009/04/take-lesson-from-wal-mart.html
How on Earth can going green go too far when you understand the realities that we are facing? Motives are less important than action and we all need to get that. -
Sadly, as others have mentioned already, corporations use consumers with their "going green" campaigns to make money. They rely on their guilt and/or good intentions. Personally, I do little things on my part for the cause. But I think we've created enough pollution and global warming to the point where it's too late. But, there again, I think we shouldn't give up.
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I work for M&S and we have a plan A which is 'our' plan to cut down waste and stuff and become a green company! It has cost us millions but were slowly helping the country! We were also the first UK company to charge for carrier bags, with all the profit going to be a UK based charity!
So i think goins green is ok aslong as they do GO GREEN not just sit there charging us more money!-
Excellent! What is M&S?
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marks and spencers?
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Nice and they do not seem to be screaming on their site "WE ARE GOING GREEN!" Very respectable.
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Many companies have learned that waving the flag saying that they are going green only gets them labeled as green washing their activities and sets them up for further public criticism. There has been such considerable abuse of green communications that even genuine efforts are now being underplayed. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though because it means companies will attempt to do more waste reduction and efficiency improvements for its own sake rather than for the PR generated.
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We tend to over react to all hype. Politically Correct Crap, Going Green, Obama, etc Mean while the planet has a mind of it's own.
Do you remember the images of Washington crossing the Delaware?
His boat being rowed through mini ice bergs.
dic.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/87/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware.png
The planet was enjoying a mini ice age moment.
www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/01/the-little-ice.html
I don't think man caused that. Or the warming process there after because man invented a submarine
www.mayflowerfamilies.com/a_1776_submarine.htm
My point is, we screw up everything we touch, so we blame ourselves for everything. We are not that mighty, there are stronger forces than us out there.-
I hear you. It is so darn confusing with all the Global Warming stuff. I just read yesterday that there is actually more ice on the Arctic than last year! What up?
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Environmental warming is about large trends. The fact that it's cold or warm on a particular day, or even in a particular year means very little.
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The issue isn't only the change in temperature but also the rate of change. The faster the change the harder it is for people, plants and animals to respond to it. The rate of change in the last hundred years is a pretty rare thing in our planet's history. What is the major difference in the last hundred years? Us.
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Yes but did they keep records before 100 years ago? I didn't phrase that right but get it?
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I know what you meant. They have other ways of estimating. Additionally, some places in Europe have kept records for a long tim.
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yea,but i don't feel like being so distrustful.So whatever~-
So whatever means you don't care about green or green marketing or both?
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I do support the Green movement in order to save our environment, but I do not support the way these corporations are going around marketing it as their next paycheck.
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Im just happy these big corps have something better to peddle than their typical useless shit. Going Green will always be good...-
Yes their useless sh#t would be another good discussion. WHy do we need 20 different choices for toothpaste when baking soda works great?
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We shoulda gone green 15 years ago.
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