Sunday, September 14, 2008

Green washing

Eco-Buyer Beware - TIME

A brief article published this week in Time magazine summarzing about green-washing - making environmental claims that can be misleading or false.

The Greenwashing Index lets readers review and rate ads based on their validity:

Terrachoice
lists the six sins of greenwashing on their website. The first is the sin of the Hidden Trade-Off - e.g. paper (including household tissue, paper towel and copy paper): “Okay, this product comes from a sustainably harvested forest, but what are the impacts of its milling and transportation? Is the manufacturer also trying to reduce those impacts?” Emphasizing one environmental issue isn’t a problem (indeed, it often makes for better communications). The problem arises when hiding a trade-off between environmental issues. This would be especially relevant with Rain Forest Relief's sustainable harvets program

Please read the sites and think of a couple of questions for Tim Keating in preparation for tomorrow's visit by Rain Forest Relief.

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