Shades of Green

I just finished reading a report titled the “Seven Sins of Green Washing” authored by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing. The report highlighted the significant increase in products that claim to be “Green” and use it as a marketing tool. One of the findings from the report was that, “Green advertising has increased almost tenfold in the last 20 years and has nearly tripled since 2006.”

As a consumer I want to do what is right. I want my hard earned dollars to have the greatest effect; I want to maximize the positive benefits of a particular purchasing decision. Marketers get this.

Its no secret that 90% of our purchasing decisions are based on how we feel about the product or company. When I was a financial advisor I would start off all my appointments by asking questions to learn about what my clients goals and dreams were for the future. Then I would relate everything to that future goal. It kept my clients emotionally invested in the long-term planning process. If for instance I had started talking about the reinvestment of dividends, compounding interest rates, and the amortization of a bond I would have bored them to death and lost the client. Green advertising is another form of the same old strategy of getting you emotionally involved in the product. This time the strategy is – buy this product its good for you and the environment.

Just as green advertising is on the rise so is green washing. The “Seven Sins of Green Washing” found that 98% of the 2219 products that were surveyed committed at least one of the sins of green washing.

In the months of November 2008 and January 2009, researchers were sent into category-leading ‘big box’ retailers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia with instructions to record every product making an environmental claim… In the United States and Canada, a total of 2,219 products making 4,996 green claims were recorded… Of the 2,219 products, over 98% committed at least one of the Sins of Greenwashing.

So where does that leave us as consumers? How do we know that our purchasing choices are actually making a difference? How can we tell that a company is taking advantage of our desire to help the planet?

I think the answer to all those questions can be found by thinking of sustainability as different shades of green. When a company adopts a policy to make their business more sustainable they get a light pale rating. As they add more elements of sustainability into their business practices they can increase their shade of green. Which, would ultimately be their sustainability rating.

One of the new initiatives that we are considering here at Greendrinks is creating a sustainable business community. Our goal is to create a space for learning new ways to incorporate sustainability into established businesses. We also want to help local businesses grow through meaningful networking partnerships. We believe the best way to achieve this is by creating a strong coalition of dedicated businesses focused on sustainability. Even though not every business in our community would be considered ‘sustainable’ we will ask every member to set a goal to start a new initiative, continue a sustainable practice, and stop doing something as it relates to sustainability in their business.

Ultimately, I would like to see the term – sustainability – be obsolete. But that’s a blog post for another day. Stay tuned as we develop the Sustainable Seattle Business Community and our Shades of Green.