GREEN BUSINESS VIEWS

Posts Tagged ‘greenwashing’

Let’s visit the bizarre world of marketing where the concept of “Reality is What We make It” is a serious business.  In the show, “Wag the Dog” with Robert Dino and Dustin Hoffman, the story line was the incredible belief that perceptions could be manipulated to the point of mass deception and the corruption of national policy.  Out of thin air, a story could be manufactured and used for less-than-honest purposes.  While it is just another movie plot, it has foundations in reality.

The manipulation of Green has had similar less-than-honest promoters as well.  Some have set out to purposely paint their company Green while not caring for the truth.  One Pennsylvania business owner reported, “I doubt really care about all the environmental stuff.  I just want to be Green because it is gaining popularity.”

Some companies like the “Do It Yourself” approach and renovate their website and advertising now to show that the company is now all bout Green.  Don’t ask them how they got there because it quickly turns into an embarrassing conversation.

In the same genre of blatant Greenwashing are the dozens of website based certifications.  From an obscure office and a negligible staff of consisting of web programmers, these Green certifications appear online with glowing credentials, harvested lists of “customers,” and a very environmental-sounding message.

Here’s the fact, if you can buy your Green certification off the Internet with the same ease as an iTune, it is a scam and it is a Greenwashing program.  Worse yet, these company include you in the scam.  When you post there nicely-designed logo on your company’s website or door, you are lying too.   There was no audited process, there was no independent review, there may not have been a shred of truth in those online questionnaires.  What there was was an online transaction where a $5 logo was bought for $500.  Such is the nature of these scams.  It is a carefully crafted series of lies that seems to actually make sense when we don’t have your ethics or common sense engaged.

Greenwashing is fundamentally, lying about the truth of the Green value of what actually exists.  So, here’s a question.  If a customer asks one of these Internet Green certified customers asked, “How did you EARN your Green certification?”; will they answer honest and say “We bought it off the Internet, filled in a few forms that none verified, and now we’re Green certified!”   …. or will they lie!

The very presence of Green certifications about over the Internet is about on the same level of cyber-sex.  It isn’t real and it isn’t right.  Of course, we all know its out there and there are many that are happy for it.  But, can they really say that it is as good as the real thing?  There are cyber pets, cyber dating, cyber golf, and avatars that allow people to pretend to be what they are not.  Cyber Green is not reality and should not be passed off by businesses as jsut as good as the real thing.

Consider installing a Certified Sustainability Officer in your company to insure the best method for make your company environmentally-complaint, more sustainable, and more profitable.  It is easy to train a sustainability officer within the company’s staff who will apply appropriate measures to the Green program.  Remember, “What is not measured, cannot be Proved.”

It has just come out that the Climate Summit is defending against even more phony evidence about global warming.  Even those who agree with the concerns for global warming are getting tired of all the artificial and misleading information.  We now hear that the prediction about the melting away of the Himalayan glacial by 2035 was unreliable information.  Of course, it makes for great drama and photo ops when this was the crisis backdrop for the attendees of the summit.  Now, they are trying to handle the latest bombshell of false evidence.  Environmentalism is in danger of persistent exaggeration and a credibility gap going forward.

This penchant for environmental hype hurts the environmental cause since it has been roundly asserted that the “scientific community” has already laid the foundations for this urgent global meetings.  Time and time again, the information is misleading, incorrect, and purposely contrived to support the claims of global warming.

Of course, we cannot forget the leaked emails out of England that told the story of suppressed information contrary to global warming.  Fewer were told that the climate change models had the reference data tied to models that were not properly protected from manipulation.  Few people understand that the climate change data was anything more than recordation of the actual temperatures.  If scientists tweak the software, the results were more to their liking.  More lies tossed like gum balls to the public.

Like any good Nixon-style cover up of the facts, the conspiracy was worse than facing the truth.  When the emails leaked out, the whole climate change community went into overdrive trying to minimize the truth that was leaking out of their highly protected community.

But, why bother to lie or contrive information to turn a matter of concern into a voracious crisis?  Is it that those who succeed in driving a crisis mentality get more of what they want?  The sad story of Haiti perhaps illustrates my point.  Haiti has been a desperately poor nation for a century.  The world has helped Haiti through humanitarian aid, but never to the extent that it did after the horrible earthquakes that struck this island country.  Crisis raises the priority of the cause and pushes people to take emergency action.  Urgency doesn’t mean that the best solutions are installed.  Haiti will still be a poor nation after the relief efforts unless we think our way through the process of international assistance.

The message to those who make the claims for environmentalism and global warming is “Stop lying to the public even though you think the reason for the lies is noble.”  The truth is what we all want, and there are enough crisis issues around to consume our attention anyway.  With unemployment at true numbers of 17%, we have a crisis.  The national debt is a nightmare that is mostly ignored by a spend-crazed congress.  The flight of jobs from America caused by taxation and regulations is being ignored while taxes on the population are going up.

Good people were disturbed at the private jet-flying elitist who attend the Climate Summit ignored their carbon footprint, made no secret of the opulent luxury of the attendees, and yet had the audacity to lecture the rest of us on our abuses of the resources of the world.  Global warming is going to suffer the ignominious fate of Martha Coakley because people are tired of the lies and elitism of those in charge of the cause.

The truth is coming out, and global warming is obvious.  It is also obvious that far too many wrap themselves in an environmental flag to advance their own private and political agendas.  They enlarge their wealth and power at the expense of the private citizen because they have hijacked the environmental cause at our expense.  The next failure of these big, fat, Green liars will be the Cap and Trade bill.  Why?  Because people are totally fed up with the Barney Franks of the world who still believe that people will buy their bald-face lies and the sold-out news media will not call them on their favorite sport of deception.

The public voted against the lies of Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, and Frank were exposed when an unknown man in a pickup truck truth told the truth.  Shocking the world, the people turned a solid blue state with a Kennedy legacy over to the truth-telling Scott Brown.  Regardless of party implications, the fact was that the truth stood against an army of lies and won.  We need less of the present political grandstanding and a lot more real people who still believe that the truth will set them free.  The environment is not a politician football, and politics is not a reliable friend of the environment.

One would hope that what I am about to say is mostly fantasy, but I don’t think so.  On the heels of a variety of calls from people claiming to be environmentally concerned, I am finding that environmental issues rarely supersede convenience and cost.   One remarkable comment came when the person said, “I don’t mind being environmental as long as it doesn’t cost me anything.”  Frankly, I was too shocked to respond like I should have.  The best response was that irresponsibility is costing us all the time.  The price of doing nothing is rarely zero.  What is the price of not going to work?  What is the price of refusing to fill the gas tank when the needle is on empty?  What is the price of neglecting our children when they ultimately require an attorney to get them out of their latest jam?

So, it occurred to me that there is a “Green Pig” Syndrome (GPS) at work.  The Green Pig Syndrome is like greenwashing except that it means that we don’t want our environmental obligation to intrude into our lives.  You see, you can paint a pig green, but it is still a pig!   A pig will do absolutely nothing different than it has always done.  It will squeal and complain when things don’t work like he wants, and it will consume as much as he can in a day, hoping only for another day to do the same.

We love convenience, luxury, and excess.  Constant gratification isn’t such a bad way to go, wouldn’t you say?  If there were no consequences to how we lived life, one might suppose that we would all be happier.  Or, at least we think that would be best.  Like it or not, we live in a consequential world, and every day is an investment in making life better or worse.  The simple task of depositing your trash in the next trash bin or throwing it out of the window has compounding consequences.   We can survive the odd incident, but I have been in countries where trash lines the streets and festers in the alleys.

The Green Pig Syndrome is a values placement process.  Pigs, I am told, are relatively near-sighted but are considered the fourth most intelligent animal in the world.  They see only what is in front of them, and they are driven by their appetites.  Who wants the life of a pig, though?  In our example, they are not long thinkers.  So, they never worry about how the world will be tomorrow.  Life does not consist of what can be done today no matter what the real cost might be in the long term.  That would be a Green Pig’s attitude, however.

Let’s face it.  You can paint a pig green, but that does not change the way it thinks.  And, anyone can paint themselves as environmentally-concerned, but how many things are they willing to change?  The success of the environmental program is not just in building Green buildings or buying Green products.  Those embracing these solutions are merely “Green by Proxy.”   The real impact is felt when Green is made a part of the lifestyle.  It could be considered behavior modification, but it is the necessary modifications for our collective future.  We need not “Go Radical” in our transition to Green.  It is a learned behavior that allows for people to grow into a better environmental citizen.

The hard facts are that Green will cost everyone something, and it will certainly intrude on our convenience-oriented world.  We cannot make the necessary changes without changing the behavior of each and every person.  It will not be convenient, comfortable, or enjoyable.  It is, however, necessary for the world that we all hope to enjoy for a while.  Don’t be overly concerned.  This is not a call to monastic living, moving into a grass hut, or trading your car in for a bicycle.  It is the challenge that we all face in this hour in history.  It is our hour, and it is our challenge.  The problem is not as fierce as a war, or as urgently pressing as a hurricane.  Environmental problems are more like the rising tide without enough high ground to keep ourselves out of the encroaching waves.  Slow disasters still deserve our attention, even though we are not up to our necks in trouble yet.

The remedy for the Green Pig Syndrome is not an H1N1 shot.  We can be Green humans who have the intelligence to see the future and change what we are doing today.  There is a cost to Go Green, and there are simple ways to transition to Green Practices that are often mildly intrusive.  Some Green practices are even beneficial.  If you are ready to be both human and a humanitarian, it is time that we all decided to make the changes without concern for the cost or inconvenience.

The recession has had a definite impact on the environmental progress of many companies.  First of all, there is a lot of loose information in the media today, including the Internet, that is only marginally helpful.  Unfortunately, most of this easy-to-find information is mostly superficial and very, very, very redundant.  How often can we hear about CFL bulbs, programmable thermostats, and turning off lights and equipment when we leave the area?  The whole Green movement has what feels like a false bottom that is very shallow, but the full subject matter is much more comprehensive and involved than most care to consider.

The recession has had an adverse affect on our collective program because the transition to Green Practices goes much deeper than strained budgets and time may seem to allow.  This is, of course, a mistaken and misguided approach to the genuine efforts that care called for at this time.  Nonetheless, it seems that nearly everyone agrees that individuals, families, agencies, and business needs to be fully committed to a cause that threatens our lifestyle and our lives.  As the recession loses its stranglehold on the economy the need to continue the environmental conversion continues to be a bigger and more demanding necessity.  Humble and well-intended efforts are often just that.  What is needed is a smart and honest program that will bring businesses to a point of solid operation.

There are two reliable methods for improving the Green IQ of any business operation.  The first is to request that a Certified Green Consultant complete a assessment for the existing and proposed Green practices.  The second method is to have one or more persons go through the Green Officer Training which is offered regionally or online.  One of the new wrinkles in the Green certification process is the realization that your firm need not own the building to receive a Green business certification.  While a Green building is valuable, a Green operation is even more valuable since there are none exempt from participation.

The Green business certification process is provided only through the two options listed above.  A worksheet that guides the trained Green Consultant or Green Officer provides a thorough review of nearly all possible environmental solutions.  No two businesses will earn Green business certification the same way,but  every business can make the necessary strides to become certified with a very modest investment that often pays off in as little as 12 to 24 months.  It is gratifying to learn that Going Green is not just a cost factor, but there are real and substantial savings that any business can realize by a properly implemented Green program.

Greenwashing seems to be the default process in business today.  Businesses often make a token effort to install a few Green ideas, and summarily declare that their company is now a Green business.  Self assertion is no proof of genuine compliance.  Neither does it allow for a standard to be set for achievement.  By setting low or no credible requirements to post a Green claim (or buy one off the Internet), everyone qualifies regardless of the flawed efforts made to make such a claim.

The only way to end Greenwashing is not to advertise more boldly than the competition, but to set a standard of performance that can be measured, audited, and certified.  Until any business meets an industry-wide standard for Green, their process is horribly flawed.  The fact that the recession has slowed the commitment to become more environmentally engaged, it should not simply become a laizzez faire of half-hearted efforts that masks the authentically Green businesses that the public will respect both now and in the years to come.