Green Products Are Popular Today. Be Careful.

Today, everyone seems to be going green from carwashes and hamburger stands, to attorneys and housekeeping services. These products and services cost more, no doubt about it, but are they green?  The marketing firms they pay big bucks to certainly make the claim, and we feel guilty passing by the opportunity to help cool the planet with a cheeseburger and fries, but are we really helping?

Eco-activists in California have had enough of this green washing and have introduced legislation that would force companies to offer free written information to back up their claims.  If a car dealership offers to offset your carbon footprint of your new purchase by planting trees in the Amazon, they may have to show you the paper trail that proves it.  After all, would you have bought that car, cheeseburger, or house cleaner if it was just normal?  Many eco-minded consumers said no, and they are trying to do something about it.

“Green washing” is the term environmentalists give this sort of half-true, guilt-ridden marketing.  Even if that burger was made from free-range, organic corn-fed beef, if it’s served up in a Styrofoam container and there aren’t recycling bins, then it isn’t really green.  Biodegradable housecleaners in non-recyclable plastic containers aren’t really green.  Swapping out one wasteful act for another is not green, and savvy activists in California are going to make sure consumers know it.

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