Having read through annual reports of some of the most polluting companies on earth, it would be naieve not to be cynical about the extent of corporate greenwashing, writes John Hepburn.
Greenwashing
The green washes off BP
It only took one of the worst oil spills in history to do it, but the world is finally starting to see through BP’s greenwashing campaigns, as the real environmental impact of its primary product starts to wash up.
Meet Ben and Jerry: the ice cream of the crop
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of (duh) ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s, talk being a “hippy business-with-a-conscience” and what it’s like to sell up to a big corporation that uses their brand as greenwashing.
Jared Diamond: How big business can save the planet
It’s a misconception that big businesses only care about profits and don’t care about the planet, says Jared Diamond. In fact, companies like Coca-Cola and Chevron have a lot to offer the fight against climate change.
The good oil on palm oil
The UK advertising regulator has banned an ad by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council claiming that palm oil is ‘sustainable’ and contributes to ‘the alleviation of poverty, especially amongst rural populations’, reports Andrew Bartlett.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Green eggs and spam
Crikey readers on greenwashing egg producers, the Indonesia Solution, learning to love Canberra, ASIO and more.
When is a cage egg green? When it plants trees
Some battery egg producers are giving their cartons a green sheen so dazzling, it threatens to blind consumers to the nature of their egg-laying process, writes Crikey intern Aaron Flanagan.
Newsweek‘s top 500 green companies
The sketchy science of carbon footprints
Measuring the carbon footprint of your business/travel/lifestyle is So Hot Right Now, but the maths and methodologies involved are so imprecise and subjective, a “low carbon” label may soon be as meaningless as a “low fat” one.
Localwashing: the new marketing con
First there was “greenwashing”. Now there’s a new environmental scourge, localwashing, as big business tries to reap the rewards of people’s quest for products with low food miles.
Saving the planet, one ice-cream at a time
Unilever is creating a “low carbon” ice-cream, which will be sold at room temperature and frozen at home, to reduce the enormous carbon footprint of keeping the treats frozen during transportation and storage. But can ice cream really help cool the planet, or is “low carbon” just the new “low carb”?
ExxonMobil: Green Company of the Year? Really?
Forbes magazine recently named gas giant ExxonMobil as their “Green Company of the Year”. Can a company that funnels money it makes on any green tech into “climate change-denying science” ever really deserve the title? asks Inhabitat.
The top green companies that… aren’t
It is actually quite easy being green these days — a few platitudes about saving the planet and renewable energy, and even the world’s top polluters are suddenly environmental crusaders. Minyanville names and shames 10 of the worst greenwashing offenders.
Flannery’s new gig is far out
Environmentalist Tim Flannery has come under fire after accepting a role as Richard Branson’s “environmental consultant” on green space travel.
Consumers need data to make green choices
85% of consumers want to save energy, but only 3% do. Several companies are now providing data on just how green the products we buy are.
The four biggest greenwashing scams
Business’s worst greenwashing culprits, and the enviro scams they’re running.
The seven sins of greenwashing
Of 2,219 products from North American retailers making environmental claims, researchers have found that “over 98%” committed one of several “sins.”
