Greenwashing

Are You Willing to Pay More for Greener Electronics?

jplatt — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0400

If you had the choice between two products, and one was greener but cost 10% more, which would you buy?

According to a new survey conducted by Retrevo, a service that matches people with electronics, 35% of people who think that buying energy-efficient appliances is important would not be willing to pay a premium price to buy those devices.

Now, according to Retrevo's survey of 632 people, 75% of those surveyed felt that buying energy-efficient devices was important. That's the good news. But few are willing to pay much extra for that energy efficiency. In addition to the 35% I just mentioned, 50 percent would only be willing to pay up to a 5% premium.

Of course, if you really think about it, paying more for an energy-efficient device will probably save you more money in the long run, but sticker shock is a tough barrier to break through, especially in these tough economic times.

So what about you? Do you pay more for greener devices? Let us know by posting your feelings below. It won't be scientific, but we'd love to hear your feelings on the subject.

P.S. -- Retrevo offers a free 30-page PDF -- Retrevo's Survival Guide to Greener Living -- which offers tips on buying the greenest electronics and lists some of the worst energy offenders. Worth a download.

eBay Launches World of Good, an "Eco Positive" Marketplace

jplatt — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0400

Looking for goods, products and artwork that help to make the world a better place? eBay is hoping you'll check out WorldofGood.com, built in conjunction with the fair-trade company of the same name, which offers an online marketplace for "eco positive" and "people positive" sellers. Products available through the site include artwork, jewelry, hand-made goods, and a whole lot more.

The site takes a great approach to categorizing its goods: You can browse for "people positive" products, which provide economic empowerment for artisans; "eco positive" products; "animal friendly" products; or by causes that you can support with your purchases.

eBay is doing a great service by helping to launch this site, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of items available on eBay's auction site skirt around animal conservation laws. The International Fund for Animal Welfare published this damning report: "IFAW has found that eBay accounts for a large majority of potentially illegal ivory sold openly on the web. An IFAW report in 2007 revealed that at least 90% of all investigated ivory listings on eBay were legally suspect. Furthermore, a soon to be released 2008 IFAW investigation has revealed that ivory traded on eBay has significantly increased in the United States since the 2007 report."

Of course, a lot of this problem would go away if Americans would stop buying ivory.

Personally, I applaud the efforts of World of Good, and in eBay for helping them to build this great site. But eBay itself does need to do more to police its listings and take a stand against the sale of illegal goods. That's the green approach, and one that will really do a world of good.

What Americans Misunderstand About Environmental Shopping

kbutler — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Americans tend to go green in primarily one way – they shop green. This is a recent trend – and I for one am not complaining. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been green since I was a teen….ager. (Sorry, just couldn’t be cute. I just couldn’t.) I grew up in South Jersey which means two things – the first, yes, I have heard that joke about New Jersey. In fact, the entire state has heard that joke. The second is that I grew up in farm country. My childhood home had a dairy barn with a cool calf skeleton in the back and huge rat skull I would poke with a stick. I’ve grown up with flocks of Canadian geese landing in our yard, and I’ve been chased across pastures by annoyed bulls. But since childhood, I’ve also watched South Jersey's beautiful farmlands get built up and built up and built up…. So at an early age, I went eco-warrior.

In any case, I’ve been watching green trends for most of my life. In the 90s, this meant buying (and working for) Ben & Jerry’s. Now with cars to cleaners to organic meatballs, Madison Avenue is pushing the environment on everyone. But a recent poll shows that many Americans don’t really understand what it means to buy green. According to a recent survey, 39% of Americans buy product that they think are “environmentally friendly.” But 48% believe that these products have a positive impact on the environment, while only 22% get that these words actually mean that the impact is “less negative.” (And yes, it took me some hard thinking to absorb that too.)

So how can you be sure that you’re actually shopping green and not, as they call it, falling victim to “greenwashing?” (When companies spin it to look like they are green, when in fact they still make a huge carbon footprint. Yes, there is a term for this.) The EPA actually has an identifying system. If something is labeled DfE, it’s “designed for the environment.” If something has the Energy Star label, it’s good on energy. Also, hit the web – there are several green shopping guides out there, like this one. And this one. Keep buying green, America! We’ve got options to keeping up the good, green fight.

Beware of Greenwashing While Building Your Eco-Friendly House

jchait — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:32:52 -0400

Greenwashing is a term used to describe companies, people, or products that claim environmental-friendly features that they don't actually possess.

A good example of greenwashing is the Clorax company. They recently released a line of "green" home cleaning products and are touting themselves as a, "We care about the planet" sort of company. However, is Clorax a good place to spend your dollars when many of their other products harm the planet, harm human and animal health, and contributes to actual unsafe eco-conditions? You should take your dollars elsewhere.

Companies and items that are actually eco-friendly expand their greeness to all aspects of their company, not just a single product. Selling yourself as green, when you're truly not equals greenwashing. Greenwashing happens in areas of green building too. Some "green" architects or green building material companies may sell their services or supplies as eco-friendly, but just because someone claims to be eco-friendly doesn't make it so.

If you want to hire green services, like an architect or construction company, and you want green building materials, be sure to check for greenwashing before you sign any contracts or write any checks.

Be sure that the builders or designers you speak with have a practice that embraces green design in all aspects. You want to work with someone who has wide reaching experience in green building, not just someone who suggests earth floors and non-toxic finishes, but that's as far as they go.

Check people's references.
Ask people you might hire if it's ok to call their old clients or see some of their eco-projects.
Ask them what their eco-home specialty is. They may rock at building straw bale homes, but if you're thinking reclaimed wood, you might want to find someone with expertise in that area.
Find out their "green" philosophy. It might be green, just not your idea of green.
Ask what other team members will be necessary if you want your home to have alternative energy sources. Most architects and contractors need extra help in this area so you'll want to hear their ideas about who they like, who they won't work with, and so fourth.

For a longer look at finding an architect who is right for you read: How To Choose a Green Architect/Contractor.