The 7 sins of greenwashing

According to http://sinsofgreenwashing.org, Terrachoice Environmental Marketing found in a study of the North American market place, 98% of companies making "green" claims regarding their products committed at least one sin of green washing. This is a disturbing thought ladies and gentlemen. For further detail into this report I suggest you take a look at this website. It's an excellent resource if you are wondering how to evaluate green labelling on products. But for those of you who are wondering what the 7 sins of green washing are right now, here are the spark notes.

1. sin of the hidden trade-off

2. sin of no proof

3. sin of vagueness

4. sin of worshipping false labels

5. sin of irrelevance

6. sin of the lesser of two evils

7. sin of fibbing

CLR good for the environment?

Calcium Lime Rust Remover (CLR) owned by Jelmar, is a powerful cleaning product for a variety of household chores. But can such a powerful product be environmentally friendly? We are all used to expecting that if a cleaner is environmentally friendly, it won't be a very powerful cleaner, yet CLR claims that we can have our cake and eat it too. This seems a little too good to be true to me, so I did a little research. According to the Jelmar website www.jelmar.com, CLR is certified by the EPA and the EPA's program "Design for Environment".

This program encourages proper labelling and safer chemistry of products. CLR was given its certification because it "contains no inorganic phosphates, hazardous solvents, or environmentally harmful sufacants (soaps). Instead, they use a proprietary blend of ingredients, which exhibit more positive environmental and human health characteristics than conventional cleaning formulations."

Unfortunately, this certification is based on information that Jelmar provided the EPA and no third party research was done. Though, Jelmar seems to be a fairly transparent company and material safety data sheets on all its products is provided by http://www.hescoinc.com/msds/jelmar.html. According to these sheets, CLR is biodegradable, but ecological information is not available. Also, it's stated that CLR is a better alternative to traditional cleaners, but does not seem to hold up to GREEN cleaners. So for the time being ladies and gentlemen, if you want to be a real hippie like me, we're going to have to put up with a little less umph in our cleaners till a better solution pops up.

A little vodka with your sponge

Well if CLR doesn't make the cut, you can always give vodka a try. According to Kristie Alley on The View, cheap vodka is cleaner that packs a punch, doesn't harm the environment, and doesn't leave an oder. Crantini anyone?

The disturbing truth about America's consumption of corn

This is an excellent documentary that looks into the farming practices and the consumption of corn in the US. I now check the ingredients of EVERYTHING I eat.

What are we REALLY buying?

Have any of you ever wondered what really went into producing your shampoo, your new coffee table, or your morning granola? This blog is to discuss all the aspects of sustainability and the products that we buy every day. How much gas was used to transport your tea to the store? What impact do our purchasing decisions have? Do the "green" labels on your toilet paper really mean that its environmentally friendly?

I feel bombarded with choices, but with too little information about these choices I feel overwhelmed and unsure about how to make my voice as a consumer heard. I want to know how much gas that was used to distribute the product, the human capital used to manufacture the product, and what kind of recycling programs does the corporation use to properly dispose of waste product. If I knew about these things, I might change my purchasing patterns.

If we are ever going to see real change in sustainability practises and environmental responsibility, then it is not up to governments or NGOs to make these changes (although they are vital to the success of this change), I strongly feel that only major corporations are large enough to create change on the scale that we need. Therefore, it is imperative to make our voices as consumers heard.