Greenwash
Last week saw the first of the Guardian’s Greenwash columns. A feature I’m surprised hasn’t been running for years, they’ll be debunking the dodgiest environmental claims of the marketing and public relations industries.
First under the microscope is the electricity industry, in which ‘Fred Pearce finds that “green” electricity tariffs are often far from what they seem’. Many consumers are paying a premium for electricity generated from renewable sources, which sounds like a nice way for consumers to partner with suppliers for the good of the planet.
Behind that greenwash are government targets – which the energy companies are missing – to generate so much from renewable anyway. The charge is that consumers are merely subsidising energy companies’ efforts to meet their obligations and so not a single joule of extra green energy has been generated as a result of green tariffs.
Some greenwash, like ethical bottled water, is less clear cut; can a wrong committed in one arena can be righted by doing good in another?
Worryingly, as consumers become increasingly aware of greenwash so it will be increasingly difficult for those who do wish to do the right the thing to convince us all that their intentions are good.
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