The Pipe: One Set of Laws for the People of Rossport, Another for Shell Oil

A person might want to think  twice before suggesting to a resident of Rossport, Ireland that “corporations are people“. For them, the struggle with Shell Oil proves there is one set of laws for the residents of this tiny fishing and farming community and another for the global corporation intent on accessing the resources along the coast of Rossport, trampling the land, the sea, and the very heart of this quiet town.

It is a modern-day telling of David and Goliath, but without the romanticized ending. The story of Rossport, Ireland is a stark example of the growing conflict that cuts through society, tears communities apart, and sets people’s lives asunder.

The award-winning documentary The Pipe tells the story of how the small Rossport community takes on the might of Shell Oil and the Irish State. The discovery of gas off this remote coastal village has led to the most dramatic clash of cultures in modern Ireland. The rights of farmers over their fields, and of fishermen to their fishing grounds, has come in direct conflict with one of the world’s most powerful oil companies.

The film is now available on demand via FilmBuff. Watch the trailer below.

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Asia Pulp and Paper – Sustainable Forestry Management or Greenwash?

Exposing Greenwashing: Asia Pulp and Paper from Winton Media on Vimeo.

A new advertisement by the world’s leading paper company is trying to grow some good pr.

The Asia Pulp & Paper company has released a one-minute ad showing that the company is trying to make up for its destruction of rainforests in Indonesia. The company destroys thousands of miles of rainforest each year and is a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions for Indonesia.

Related articles

• Barbie killing the rainforest (rt.com)
• Lego banishes Asia Pulp & Paper due to deforestation link (ourfutureplanet.org)

Biodegradable vs. Compostable: Don’t Be Greenwashed

Look around you. Everything you see right now is biodegradable. From the flat panel large screen TV to the plastic fork in you fast food bag. It’s the perfect term for the greenwasher because “biodegradable” only means that a material will break down “over a period of time.” It could take a year, ten years, or ten thousand years. It’s all biodegradable.

On the other hand, “compostable” actually means something. To use that term a product or material must adhere to specific scientific criteria. Essentially, a material must break down into measurably tiny and environmentally benign parts within a specifically limited time frame. The following video from VivBizClub spells out the difference between biodegradable and compostable. Don’t be greenwashed!

Related articles

• 5 Things You Might Not Know About Composting (casasugar.com)
• Bioplastics Debate: Could They Harm The Environment? (huffingtonpost.com)
• Compostable vs. Biodegradable (vivbizclub.com)

Dasani Water PlantBottle

What’s the one thing aliens (or whomever) are sure to find after this thing we call “civilization” has long slipped into Earth’s turbulent past?

Water bottles. And lots of ‘em.

I recently came across my first bottle of Dasani water in the “PlantBottle” introduced last year. CocaCola, owners of Desani, claims the new plastic material is made partially from plants and is 100 percent recyclable.

Some say it is a small step in the right direction.

Others say it’s greenwash and a step in the wrong direction.

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Is Ignorance Greenwashing? Home Depot Can’t Tell Customer About Its Own Recycling Program

From a reader tip:

Most major retailers like Best Buy and Walmart, have electronics recycling programs for consumers to safely dispose of their electronics gadgets and appliances. Home Depot ostensibly offers one as well, but you might not know that if you talked with a Home Depot customer service representative.

A reader tip from John tells the following story:

John wanted to recycle an old microwave so he called Home Depot’s customer service department to get recycling information. John contacted one and then a second representative, neither one, John reports, had any idea of what to tell him.

John finally got an answer from Micaiah Holley from Home Depot’s Customer Support Center, informing John about their partnership with 1-800-Cleanup, a recycling hotline offered by Earth911. The problem is two out of three customer reps at Home Depot knew anything about it. At least that is John’s experience.

It may not rise to the level of full-blown greenwash, but how well a company, or any organization, disseminates information about its sustainability and environmental stewardship programs is a true reflection of how important those values are to that organization.

Image credit: The Lazy Environmentalist (image is not that of our tipper. Thanks John for the tip!)

Chevron Greenwashing? We Agree

The latest ads from Chevron have real people – Chevron people – addressing real issues, showing everyday folk like you an me what a great thing Chevon is doing for us.

“It’s time oil companies get behind the development of renewable energy” Who can disagree with that? Or “Oil companies should support the communities they are a part of.” Indeed.

Nobody interested in a sustainable future based on a new energy economy and social justice can really disagree with these well-crafted statements at the heart of Chevron’s latest public relations campaign, We Agree. Any greenwashed PR worthy of a multi-national energy behemoth like Chevron should deliver no less than such a positive message that places itself squarely in the center of a bright, cheery future.

On it’s face, the message is good, positive – even hopeful and optimistic. But that’s the insidious thing about greenwashing. It looks and sounds really good. Blatant lies and outright false advertising is for two-bit chumps that think they’ll never get caught in their lies and deception. Just ask ex-Congressman Chris Lee as an example of such a chump for a lesson on how that works.

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Will Carbon Accounting Software and Standards Put an End to Greenwashing?

This post is commentary on Hunter Richards‘ article “Software to Hold Greenwashers Accountable” published in the Software Advice Blog.
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It is very much the wild west in the world of green advertising and corporate “green certification” programs. With little confirmation or verifiable standards, companies can appeal to a growing eco-awarness among consumers with little fundamental backing for such claims. Scientifically honed messages push an image of eco-friendliness and sustainability, stretching the truth at best and often peddling outright lies.

Like a parasite, greenwashing makes it that much more difficult for business and consumers alike to find a healthy balance between commerce and long term sustainability. Greenwashing is insidious, confusing consumers interested in making right choices for their families, tainting the idea of “green,” and leaving many cynical and apathetic to the idea – even as many companies make honest and significant efforts to become more sustainable and offer more eco-friendly choices.

But how to curb the temptation to go for the quick buck that some simply can’t resist? Is there a way to tame the “wild west” of greenwashing?

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The Six Sins of Greenwashing

National Restaurant Association: A Greener Shade of Greenwash, Part 4 – Recap and Conclusion

Over the past three days we’ve seen what we’ve been calling “A Greener Shade of Greenwash” from the National Restaurant Association (NRA).

In Part One we laid the foundation. Showing how the NRA uses slick marketing and well-produced multimedia to deliver a message supposedly promoting green business practices, emphasizing the advantages of appealing to the eco-minded customer and implementing sustainability best practices. The NRA says they offer the Greener Restaurant program as a solution for restaurateurs.

In Part Two we saw step-by-step how an imaginary restaurant - Green Wallace Wash – becomes Certified/Recognized by the NRA as a “Greener Restaurant” three times over, all by doing nothing more than paying the annual membership fee and going online and making false claims about its internal sustainability program – all endorsed by the National Restaurant Association’s Greener Restaurant program.

We discuss the National Restaurant Association’s attempt to sidestep accountability for a program with no standards, benchmarks, or verification by insisting such burden is on the shoulders of the consumer, not the organization granting the endorsement.

In Part Three we examined the Conserve Solutions Center, a pavilion planned for the exhibit floor of the upcoming National Restaurant Association Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago on May 22-25.

The Conserve Solutions Center is promoted as an opportunity for business-to-business marketing of “green business solutions,” an opportunity to display green products and services for interested restaurant owners.

We saw how “Troy,” a prospective exhibitor at the Conserve Solutions Center submitted four items for consideration: two products made of virgin plastic, one cleaning product clearly stated as made from 100% Chlorine and ethyl cellusolve (a chemical listed in California as a hazardous material), and a Styrofoam cup. When specifically asked if the products were acceptable for inclusion at the Conserve Solutions Center, a representative from the NRA replied in an email: “Your products are a great fit for the Conserve Solutions Center”.

We have established a clear pattern of the kind of cynicism, deception, and false claims that define the worst in greenwashing. It should not – indeed it can not – be the burden of the customer to benchmark and verify claims implicitly and explicitly endorsed by the organization issuing the endorsement - or the endorsement means nothing. That is a truth the semantical argument in which the National Restaurant Association would have us engage over a “recognition” vs. a “certification” program cannot dissuade.

The National Restaurant Association has undertaken a sophisticated, well-planned, and intentional greenwash campaign. It ultimately hurts those it professes to help, casting doubt and suspicion on legitimately benchmarked and verified sustainability programs.

And there’s one more thing.

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National Restaurant Association: A Greener Shade of Greenwash, Part 3

The Conserve Solution Center - Providing real solutions or pushing greenwash?

In parts One and Two of our series A Greener Shade of Greenwash, we demonstrate how the National Restaurant Association (NRA), through their Greener Restaurant program and Conserve website, employ a compelling message aimed at restauranteurs interested in the advantages of implementing sustainability best practices in their operations.

From attracting the growing number of eco-minded customers actively seeking out green dining options to appealing to the sincere, sustainability-minded business owner, the NRA offers as a solution the Greener Restaurant program. A program that, as we see in part Two of this series, requires nothing more than payment of the $250 annual membership fee and basic computer skills to produce signed Greener Restaurant certificate and a host of marketing materials, including use of the Greener Restaurant logo. It doesn’t even require an actual restaurant to be recognized by the National Restaurant Association as a Greener Restaurant.

It is a program with no standards, benchmarking, or verification, claiming instead that such burden rests with the consumer. It is, therefore, a program that is meaningless and detrimental to the cause it claims to support. Instead of a solution, the Greener Restaurant program only creates confusion and suspicion.

Now we’ll turn our attention to the upcoming National Restaurant Association Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago on May 22-25, and NRA plans to set up a pavilion on the exhibit floor called the Conserve Solution Center. In a press release the NRA says this about the purpose of the exhibit:

“Restauranteurs looking for ways to ramp up environmental efforts and find greener business solutions will find the information, products, services, and contacts they need…”

Care to guess what kind of products and services the NRA sees as “green business solutions?” (Here’s a hint: remember that Styrofoam cup we introduced back in part one?)

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