Ecopreneurist

This a guest post and the first article in a four-part series about greenwashing written by Buzz Chandler, president and founder of Asean Corporation, manufacturers of the StalkMarket family of Earth friendly products. The purpose of the series is to help fellow ecopreneurs better understand greenwashing, how to avoid being mislabeled as a greenwasher and what to do when you are.

The word “green” is one of the most used and abused words in today’s marketing lexicon. The green movement is gaining enough momentum to make it a very attractive demographic for legitimate social entrepreneurs as well as bottom-feeding shysters whose true interest in green pertains mainly to the color of money. The good news is that there is a growing number of environmentally-minded consumers who put a lot of time and effort in to making sure they aren’t being duped by unscrupulous companies that claim to be something they are not.

These consumers work hard to evangelize companies and products that they deem legitimate. The community works just as hard to call out companies who aren’t backing up their claims, and the term they use to describe the actions of these companies is “greenwashing.”

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In his opinion in the obscenity case of Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964), Justice Potter Stewart said that “hardcore pornography” was hard to define but that he knew it when he saw it. The same can be said about greenwashing. There are plenty of examples of “hardcore greenwashing” including Eco-friendly bottled water or clean coal that are blatantly obvious to any reasonable person.

On the other hand, just like pornography, as soon as you step outside the realm of “hardcore” there are some serious grey areas that various communities will interpret differently. And that’s where things get sticky. Fortunately, there is no shortage of definitions and guidelines for spotting greenwashing. From an entrepreneur’s perspective, the Greenpeace greenwashing Website is a must read. It is also worthwhile looking at the various greenwashing watchdog Websites and blogs including the Greenwash Brigade,  Greenwashing, Greenwashing Index or The Unsuitablog. I pay particularly close attention to Greenwashing Spy, from our friends at the Biodegradable Products Institute because it covers topics that are highly relevant to StalkMarket.

As an ecopreneur, it is important to stay on top of what the community is calling greenwash as well as companies that are being lauded for their efforts. That same community will play a large role in the success or failure of your company.

It is vital for any company to be honest and straightforward about its business and products. Once trust is broken, it is hard to regain. This is even more important for green companies. Most environmentally-minded consumers are educated and rational. They understand that few perfect answers to our most daunting environmental issues exist and they are very supportive of companies who share their commitment to finding consistently better solutions. Providing these customers with the information they need to make an informed buying decision is key.

For many people, reducing their impact on the environment is not a fad; it’s a way of life.  We need to do what we can to support and encourage more people to take environmental stewardship seriously. By painting everything with the same green brush, the marketing community is running the risk of hurting the very movement on which it is trying to capitalize. This is simply something we must not allow to happen.

In the next part of our series, we will go over several things an ecopreneurist can do to avoid being mislabeled as a greenwasher.

Photo credit: Stonethestone at FLICKR under Creative Common License

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