How To Detect If You Are Being Greenwashed.
Doing some research on my weekly greenwashing feature, I came across this informational post over at Sourcewatch that outlines the rules of thumb you should watch for detecting greenwashing. I thought it was so perfect and dead-on that I would share it with you guys…
Big budget greenwash campaigns are designed to defuse skepticism of journalists, politicians and activists. Some rough rules of thumb for testing whether the claims made by a company, government or NGO stack up are:
- Follow the Money Trail: Many companies are donors to political parties, think tanks and other groups in the community. Ask about all their donations, not just those they boast about in glossy documents such as the corporate social responsibility reports.
- Follow the membership trail: Many companies boast about the virtues of their environmental policy and performance but hide their anti-environmental activism behind the banner of an industry association to which they belong. Find out what industry association companies are members of and check and see what their policies are.
- Follow the paper trail: Most companies, or their trade associations, will make submissions to government and other inquiries on a wide range of issues. Often these submissions will be posted to a website. They will also send lots of letters to politicians and government agencies, which can be accessed by Freedom of Information Act searches. You will probably discover that instead of lobbying for tougher environmental standards, they are busy trying to weaken the ones that exist.
- Look for skeletons in the company’s closet: Every company has major problems that it doesn’t want the public and regulators to know about. Check for information on the company with watchdog groups and in the media and compare that with what they disclose.
- Test for access to information: Many companies will make lofty claims about their commitment to transparency and providing information to ’stakeholders’. Don’t just take them at their word. In their reports they will probably refer to environmental impact statements, reviews, audits, monitoring data and other information. If it relates to an issue you are interested in, ask to see it. And remember that ‘commercially confidential’ is just corporate speak for ‘no’.
- Test for international consistency: Most companies will operate to different standards in other countries. Check and see whether their operating standards and procedures are consistent.
- Check how they handle their critics: Some companies go to extraordinary lengths to try and silence their critics. This can involve everything from legal threats to funding and collaborating with police and military forces.
- Test for consistency over time: It is common for a company to launch a policy or initiative and then starve it of funds.
Be sure to check out the full details and information over at Sourcewatch.
You may also like:
- Are You A Corporate Watchdog? Take The Quiz.
- Greenwash Of The Week: Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
- The Top 100 Corporate Polluters In The United States.
- Greenwash Of The Week: Double-Header Edition.
- Greenwash Of The Week: BP -Not Exactly Beyond Petroleum.
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