Green Business Awareness

No matter how they are done, powered eggs never taste as good as a real egg.  The same is true of other reconstituted products like mashed potatoes, milk, or hamburger helper.  They might work in a pinch, but these products can never replace the real thing.  It is just this reason that the phrase “Authentic Green” seems to be emerging.   “Being Real” is never easy when there are easier alternate routes that seem to travel the same direction.  This will be true of Green programs that pop up overnight and make claims to offer Green certification for your home or business.

Let’s look squarely at the underlying issue and ask some of the critical questions.  Is the environmental issue a life-changing issue?  Could our lack of commitment take us into a nightmare that we can only fearfully imagine?  Like it or not, it appears that issues such as global warming, population growth, food and water, and natural resources are all vitally impacted.  Therefore, the cause of concern is not a game and serves more than a passing interest.

Given the seriousness of the environmental issue, how foolish can we be to adopt shallow and mere cosmetic solutions in the face of something that requires our best efforts to resolve?  We have moved well beyond the ability of casual efforts, amateur participation, and promotional games.  That is why I am so bothered and upset about the Fake Green websites  and numerous Green projects that lack the serious approach to these crucial issues.

Authentic Green, therefore, is a growing recognition that there is a noticeable and concerned acknowledgment of the imitators versus the people who see the environmental cause as something more than a way to promote their company, make money, and still cut corners.   You see, people care, and they should care all the more when they see instances of Greenwashing, Fake Green, and outright deception.  It should anger us because they are playing games while the storms clouds build that threaten our lives and the lives of our children.

To be Authentically Green, there is a need to actually change the operation to Greener and more sustainable practices.  Take a look at Green Practices for a better view of this subject.  There is so much that needs to be addressed on this subject, but it really comes down to being honest and an active participant in the efforts to make our world better.

The Green Business League is deeply committed to Green Practices that call for changes in the way homes and businesses operate.   The surprising benefit that the Green Business League also promotes is the substantial cost savings that can be realized by Going Green.  It is not about doing with less or cutting back on the necessary things we all need.  It is about better management and efficiencies that come from being smarter with our programming.  The reward for Going Green the right way is that it still not only help save the world … it will save you more money than you might imagine.

It is fair to say that earning a Green Business certification has a cost.  The investment can be small or large depending on how many challenges a company may face to become an authentic Green business.  I would put the Greening effort in a similar monetary category as buying a piece of needed machinery for the company.  The rationale is that the machine is needed to make the company run better, it will save time, and reduce the work load for everyone.  These are somewhat intangible benefits except that they show up on in a better operation and in savings to the companies bottom line.  In other words, Going Green is an investment that has a predictable return.  More and more, we are learning that Green is not just an expense that takes an unfriendly bite out of the cash flow.  Going Green has real and lasting benefits that may be hard to measure but can be seen as a boost to the company’s overall profitability.

If you improve the indoor air quality, you will also improve employee performance and reduce health claims.   If you install a paperless system, your whole company will speed up performance, and more work will be produced by fewer workers.  Employee cost savings is not a small advantage as everyone is looking to keep expenses down.  Get smart with you energy use, and your electric and fuel bills will go down.  As rates goes up (and they will), the efficiencies that you now embrace will become more impressive as rates go up.  Get involved in source reduction and other sustainable efforts, and you’ll trim out the excesses that will also fatten the bottom line.

Could Going Green actually save a company $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000 a year?  The answer is an absolute “Yes.”  This does not happen because a company sets up a Green committee that has no training on the subject.  These kind of savings come from taking a wise and professional approach to the subject.  Certified Green Consultants offer the expertise that most companies need to install a Green program that will bring about a thoughtful Greening program that includes the kind of savings that help a company in more ways then social responsibility in a world struggling with environmental issues.

Another intangible is the marketing value of being a Certified Green Business.  As the Green market matures, the ability to stand out as something more than a self-appointed Green company has limited credibility in this market.  It is possible to “Fake Green” by buying a Green logo online without any serious commitment or audit routine.   It is common sense to Go Green and do it with a bona fide certification program like the one offered by the Green Business League.

It may not affect your bottom line, but the environment is now under stress.  Unresolved, the impact of environmental hardships will be seen throughout society.  There is also a universal price that we all pay because of the ignorance or neglect of social duties.  Essentially, we cannot ignore this duty unless we want it to grow into a hurricane of devastation that hits everyone with some harm.

There is a price to be paid to Go Green, but we are now finding that there is also a PAY BACK for the investment that need not take years to realize.  Smart Green Consultants know how to make Going Green pay off in just one to two years.  The money that you are able to keep in your corporate pocket will make your business leaner and faster.  It will give your company the ability to promote itself as an authentically Green Business.  Your company wins, your employees win, the consumers win, and the environment wins.  When thoughtfully and professionally addressed, there is no losers in a Greener world.

Be warned that doing any good thing badly rarely pays off, and often causes real embarrassment.   Buying a Green business credential online line falls in the same category as cyber porn.   It isn’t real, and it isn’t right.  A website can be set up in a week, and offering a flimsy imitation to the public that claims to be as good as the real thing.  When it is all said and done, you just can’t beat the real thing.

Ever since the Kyoto Protocol set the stage for global concern and governmental intervention, the worldwide concern for global warming is inextricably tied to the production of carbon dioxide .  It was also at the Kyoto meeting that the phrase “Cap and Trade” seemed to find its voice and the concept has continued to grow as more and more governments saw this as the primary means to address the global warming concerns.  Now, Cap and Trade programs seem to be a growing trend, but the wisdom of yet another governmental program raises unsettling questions.

Just to add another opinion to the global warming issue, the natural and environmental solution seems to be getting minimal attention in the global community, and I think it is because they have not figured out a way to tax the trees.  This is more than a sarcastic swipe at governmental intrusion, but an objection to the boorish ignorance of the best solution that we have in the global warming concern.  If carbon dioxide is the named culprit of global warming, and tree remove carbon dioxide and release wonderful oxygen, why in the name of good sense aren’t there governmental initiatives with the same aggressive drive for a “Natural Solution?”  The need for heavy-handed governmental intrusion with a Green Tax or Cap and Trade should not be the singular solution while better solutions get a mild level of friendly encouragement.

Global warming is becoming something more than an environmental concern.  It is possible that global warming could be hijacked and used as political leverage, taxing opportunities, and power-mongering that will not serve the true issue at hand.  This would not be the first time opportunists have seized on a popular theme for political advantage. The fact that the Cap and Trade program promises that it will drive up the cost of energy.  This means that someone will get rich and the people at the bottom will struggle all the more.  This is worse than unfortunate.  The CBO report of February 2008 on the concerning Cap and Trade reports a 60 billion dollar market of these CO2 trading instruments in a speculative market where “banks, brokers, funds, arbitrageurs, and private traders now participate in a market valued at $60 billion in 2007.”  Does it start to make sense now?  This is becoming a multi-billion dollar marketplace where the fat cats will get fatter and the rest will watch from outside of their foreclosed homes.

Returning to my key issue, I am very concerned that the reforestation effort is a sideline issue promoted by private efforts with government encouragement.  Trees provide an immense benefit in sweeping the air of particles, taking out carbon dioxide, and replenishing the oxygen.  They serve other purposes as well.  They slow the rain and hold the soil in place which has obvious benefits.  They are a true natural resource.  It therefore seems to be that the best solution is lighten up on cap and trade and increase the reforestation efforts.  No matter the public rhetoric, we are looking at a solution that seems to offer no good solution except to aggravate people who are already financially stressed with a cost-laden program where the wealthy and powerful are lining up for “The Next Big Money Grab.”  There is a need for Toto to pull back the curtain once again to reveal the wizards behind the curtain that are pulling the levers to fool us all with their magic and seeming power.

Well realistically, trees are not nearly so much fun as people.  Trees charge nothing to do what they do.  They work at their task without complaint and without a government or union to control their production.  They can’t vote, and they never complain no matter how badly we treat them.  No wonder they have so little political weight in D.C. or other political conclaves.  At the end of the day, we will find that we may have taken the wrong route to the global warming issue chosing to fight nature with policital clout and taxation rather than joining with nature to find the solutions already in hand.  But then government cannot control nature, and worse yet, they can’t tax the trees.

Every good idea will spawn dozens of imitators, and Green certification is no exception to this phenomenon.  Every week another website is posted offering another variation of a Green certification.  How do you tell the scams from the real things?  Well, first of all, it is likely that the cheapest and easiest solution is the inferior solution.   The quick and easy solution is to pay a few hundred dollars to a website deal that asks only that you sign a ten-point pledge to certify the Green integrity of your operation.

The Internet is most often a one-sided flow.  Anyone can get information on nearly any subject.  You can even download songs, pictures, and movies.  When it comes to the reverse flow, it is almost always money from consumers to websites that are very pleased to get money from you.  In this mostly one-sided system, the ability to assist your company to install a Green operation is all but impossible.  If you could improve a business this way, I imagine that there are also  janitorial services that will clean your building through the Internet as well.

Finding the “Real Deal” is becoming more and more difficult.  It is not just a matter of Google page ranking because anyone with enough money can buy Google adwords and get on the first page of the search engines.  Neither is it about the quality of the website.  It only takes a skilled programmer to post up an impressive website that makes a garage operation look like a mega-corporation.  Obviously, it helps when the company has been around a dozen years or so, but the Green industry is still relatively young.  So, consider the keys to success for a Green certification program called the Green Business League.

1. Experience:  Green Business League grew from the Green Clean Institute which started in 2005, and has trained more than 2500 firms and individuals in Green practices and certification.
2. The Green Business League has real people in most major communities, with more than 250 trained Certified Green Consultants in the U.S. and internationally.  They expect more than 500 by the end of 2009.
3. The Green Business League actually audits each and every firm with a Green Business Certification using a flexible but well-constructed 100 point system for certification award.  It is not a paper pledge.
4. Each Certified Green Consultant works with area companies on a monthly assistance program to continue the Green progress and increase the Green IQ of each company.
5. The Green Business League website has real people, real offices, and the largest field force of Green consultants in the country.  Instead of a Internet operation, there are real Green Consultants in your community working to address the environmental challenges that we face.

The environment is a serious issue that has global and local implication of immense consequences.  The fact that some profiteers  think to extract money by offering a bogus Internet certification is both an insult and a mockery of those who take this matter seriously.  What if we also sold a seal for the hungry and starving people of the world?  Contributors need not make a difference to those who are dying daily, but they do get to look like you care when they happily post the seal for public display.  Ludicrous, right?  Yet, this parallels the same mockery of the environmental issue.  Displaying such an Internet purchased seal is a detriment to those who really care and want to make a difference.

One of the fundamental credos of the Green Business League is the statement that the Green Business Certification is “Earned, and not Bought.”  In the face of the “wanna be” Green certification program, this is not only unique, it tells all that you certify that this program is for real, and money is not the only criteria for certification.   If you are looking for a Green Business certification, you could do no better than the Green Business League.

There are still those people standing on the sideline of the environmental controversy, who are unwilling to join the Green lifestyle because they “really aren’t sure” that this is anything more than a trend.  Let’s be honest, why bother if this will all pass like the cyclical flu season?  “Bad times come and bad times go,” we could say to ourselves.  Sometimes change is the new direction of life rather than a temporary fad.  Some time ago, I read that the manufactures of the buggy whip refused to believe that the automobile would catch on until they were forced into bankruptcy.   At this stage in history, it seems like a total lapse of common sense.

Change is is something that must happen whether we like it or not, whereas trends are directions that are frankly options for anyone to join or take a pass.  Change is a bend in the road that you will follow, and trends resemble an alternate route.  Both feel alike, but they have different durations. 

The second issue is that we love change that seems to feel good, and we resist change that doesn’t feel so good.  It is not just a money thing because we’ll spend money for a change that we like.  It is the perception of the value and promise of what comes next that causes us to resist or embrace change.  This is the core issue for those who resist or embrace the changes required in a world that become more environmentally friendly.   This new lifestyle is a shift from convenience to inconvenience.  Al Gore had this part right.  It is an inconvenient truth, but it is not just about polar bears and calving glacial fronts.   It is about the reality that this new wave is a true change in behavior and not a friendly trend that we can join or ignore.

The facts make the case for us.  Population growth, finite energy resources, and climatic concerns are are to call mere trends.  Population has gone for 4 billion people worldwide in the 1950’s to 6.8 billion in 2008.  By 2025, the experts predict 9 billion people in the world.  That’s a fact, not a choice.  We are now calculating the limit on the oil and gas reserves left on our planet, although I feel they are more than “what is known” now.  Finally, whether you accept global warming or not, climates do change, droughts will occur, and we can experience a cycle of bad weather that demand that we adjust or die.

With this simplistic review of hard-hitting changes faced by everyone in the world, I strongly suggest that the environmental change is not a trend.  If this is a permanent change to our world complexion, we must change as well or be punished by our “grasshopper and the ant” rejection of reality.  As the story goes, the grasshopper fiddled away the summer while the ant worked.  When winter hit, the ant survived while the grasshopper froze to death.  A fitting metaphor for where we are right now in world history.

The Green lifestyle is not a trend, fad, or option.  Sooner or later, the reality will hit us hard.  Like losing your job forces an immediate and substantive change in everything you do, the environmental issues press us to take action in a season of opportunities or suffer like the blindsighted grasshopper when winter hits.  We are a people with a new mission and challenge.  We must intelligently adjust the way we operate now to minimize the impact of a world in change.  If we adjust today, we will live better tomorrow. 

I also see that most people do not know how to make the necessary changes in their lives.  They lack information, connections, and guidance.  That is why I suggest that family or businesses contact a Certified Green Consultant to help make the change to a lifestyle that we can sustain for many years into the future and through generations.  The Green Business League promotes the Green Lifestyle through Green Awareness training, Green practices, and Green certification.  Don’t stand by while others prepare for our pending day of scarcity.  We need a bold and rapid rise in Green pracitces at every level of our society.

The present environmental issues are haunted by several preconceived beliefs that unfortunately hinder the wide-spread acceptance of a more evolved process now in market today.  These prevailing concerns are that Going Green is both inconvenient and a larger bite into available dollars.  These threats are often pushed aside because of the greater challenge of saving the world from environmental disaster and the anticipated calculation of savings realized over the next fifteen to twenty years.  These reasons were enough of a rationale for the environmentally-concerned, but it did not convince the rest of America to change their lifestyles.

Let’s consider another prevalent issue, which is the natural penchant we all have for convenience.  The last few generations have passed through an extended period of throw-away possessions and single use everything.  Convenience has become as integral part of our lifestyle as red meat.  We have left behind a period of time when we casually adopted the concept of “planned obsolescence.” Conservation, recycling, or stewardship were not common words.  We were literally “Consumers,” and everyone liked it just that way.

Here’s the ugly, present truth!  Our lives are no longer about convenience, but now require that we do what is the right thing to do in a world predicted to expand to a population of nine billion people.  Our habits are no longer about convenience in a world that now calculates “what is left” of our worldwide resources.  And, our future is not longer about convenience, as we find that our trash and polluted waste threatens to return to us in very unfriendly ways.  Life, in all its many variations, is now about stewardship and doing the right thing.

People and business everywhere are now facing a lifestyle renovation that will either be voluntary, or be mandated by regulations if we cannot change on our own.  Change is now a great deal more than a political slogan.  It is where we are in this point of world history, and those who cannot change will eventually bemoan the fact that government will happily and awkwardly enforce.

My report, however has some very good news.  Change may be the new rule as this generation willingly adopts the new patterns of a more environmental lifestyle, but costs are no longer a real barrier to anyone.  We are now learning that Going Green actually brings new efficiencies that will increase the bottom line of a home or business.  The return on investment need not be a 15-20 year calculation, but can be a 1-2 year reward.  For example, a 25% savings on electric can be a big help to almost any budget, and that is easy to accomplish with proper guidance.  Green businesses need not change much of what they do in life; but if they take this change seriously, it is possible to realize a 30-40% energy savings.  The fact is that Going Green can save money in your office supplies, manpower costs, water, and heating bills to name a few ideas.  A professional Green renovation can save not merely hundreds of dollars, but thousands of dollars each and every year.

We have all heard the recent predictions of our energy future.  We are regrettably being told to expect 100%, 200%, and even 300% increases in the cost of energy. This fact will magnify the savings of what is done to improve our consumption today.  So, the best question is, “What is holding us back?”  It is most likely our mistaken beliefs that becoming a Green business is a sacrifice that we must make without a solid reason for making the sacrifices needful at this time.  But, this type of thinking is a throwback to an era when Green was relatively new and immature.

A Certified Green Consultant has been trained to do more than guide a business in the adoption of Green practices and the certification of Green businesses.  They also know how to create strong savings and beef up the profits of a Green motivated company.  These savings are magnified many times over as years pass and prices go up.  This is a basic theme with the Green Business League compared to other “Greening” program using website promotions, self-assessment, and simple “Buy-In” memberships.  Going Green is no longer the venue of amateurs because doing it badly is both costly and inconvenient.  An authentically Green business is the kind of program that pays the best dividends to those install Green practices the right way.

Sustainable Business.  Admittedly, one of my big issues in this industry is the misuse and lack of definition of the terms that we use.  The word sustainable is a little better understood, but nonetheless badly used words in the grand dictionary of environmental terms.  To start the process, it may be best to provide a terse definition for sustainability, and that is “Resource Management.”

The most popular definition of sustainability can be traced to a 1987 UN conference. It defined sustainable developments as those that “meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs“(WECD, 1987).  Robert Gillman, editor of the In Context magazine, extends this goal oriented definition by stating “sustainability refers to a very old and simple concept (The Golden Rule)…do onto future generations as you would have them do onto you.”

This parallels the Great Law of the Iroquois Indians that stated, “In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation… even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine.”   This belief parallels the concept of sustainability in a generation that had more than enough natural resources at their disposal.   It should never be about how much we have to spend, but how well we spend it.  The concept of stewardship infers that we really don’t own things but are temporary caretakers of whatever we presently control.

The sustainable business is frankly an important aspect of the overall picture since industry, business, or commerce uses a lot of resources with enough capital to be waste.  A sense of expediency prevails in this community that creates a a “Whatever it takes” mentality.  This needs to change, and it is changing albeit far too slow for the environmental crisis that we face.  Therefore, the sustainable business model means a more responsible company that does not allow expedience to rule when given the choice between waste and conservation of our resources.

We know that the recycling mantra is, “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle;” but the depth of application goes well beyond the trash container behind the building.  It happens at every level of the business process.  It involves energy, water, and waste management.  It is a call to step into the modern era of business opportunity with a truly “Paperless Office.”  It considers more than the marketing department boasting of Green merits, and promotes the Green purchasing processes of the company.

Does it come as a surprise that a “Sustainable Company” may not be a “Green Company?”  Going Green is primarily about the “Health Impact” of the business, which starts with the Indoor Air Quality and considers the numerous issues that impact the indoor air and all that we do to essentially poison it.

Eventually, it becomes obvious that when we understand the depth and extend of the environmental issues, our present skill set, knowledge base, and limited activities are not enough to properly solve the problem.  It is at this point that the astute business will seek out a Certified Green Consultant who can act as an outsourced Green Adviser to any company.  If properly trained, the Certified Green Consultant will add another fantastic value to the company he or she serves.  Going Green will literally save a growing business thousands upon thousands of dollars in ways most can’t imagine.  Going Green is more than a health issue, even as being sustainable is more than preservation of resources.  To the smart company, it is a huge money savings that pays sizable dividends year after year.

In a growing marketplace of web-based Green certifications that require only a fee of several hundred dollars and a promise to Go Green, the Green Business League offers a Green Business certification that is “Earned, and not Bought.”   Do not be lured by shallow and hollow certification options.  Only the Green Business League offers a program represents a honest program of Green Business certification.

Green business is often different from what most think.  In many cases, Green business is the best way to promote or market a business.  By touting a Green virtue within the company, the promoters wish to convince the world that they are a Green business worthy of your business.  Part of the problem is that there is no real definition for “Green Business.”   Therefore, the phrase can be configured to mean nearly anything with a Green attachment.  This is what can honestly be called “Token Green,” which means doing the least possible to be included in the Green business definition.  An authentically Green business embraces the environmental issues more fully bringing Green practices to every part of their honestly Green business.

As mentioned before in various articles, a business may also be “Green by Proxy” meaning that there is little real change in their daily operation expect the purchasing of solutions created by others.   Buying Green cleaning products is one example.  Purchasing carbon credits is another way to borrow a solution from someone else without making real change in the operation creating carbon emissions.   It might be nice to give money to some worthy environmental cause, but that will not create a Green business either.

This kind of shallowness is part and parcel of the newness that we all have the many various on environmental issues faced by all people on this earth.  We’ve even invented a new word for those who over-hype the Green virtues of their product or services.  It is called Greenwashing.   As the world matures, a company claiming to be a Green business will need more than a good marketing department.  They will want to have an integration of Green practices throughout the operation and certification by an independent firm like the Green Business League.

To be a Green business, the expectation is that Green is more than a layer of veneer or hasty covering to disguise the true nature of the business.  It comes down to Green practices at nearly every level of the company’s various programs or departments.  In fact, it reaches to each and every one of the company’s employees.  A training program like the “Green Awareness” program can be offered to any company by a Certified Green Consultant to make sure that everyone is on the same page of this important issue.

Combine this training with an ongoing program of Greening up the operation of the company with the help of a Certified Green Consultant, and it is reasonable to expect that the environmental issue is far more than a hollow claim by the company trying to impress an increasingly astute public.

There are three distinct areas of Greening today.  There are Green products, Green buildings, and green practices.  Each piece of this simple puzzle has its value and plays an important role in the environmental process.  Though slow in coming, we are seeing more an more Green products come to the stores and the Internet.  Unfortunately, not all of them are as Green as they suggest in their marketing.  That is, however, yet another issue for another day.

Green buildings as valuable to the overall picture.  For a long time, building requirements dealt with safety and local regulations.  Now, there is the inclusion of building materials that will not add to the health issues and will help the sustainability of our resources.   And this is a good thing to see, but we cannot neglect the human factor that is desperately needed if we are going to succeed against the all-too-imposing environmental issues.

Green practices seem to the the last, but frankly, most important part of the puzzle.  It does us little good to have Green products and Green businesses if we do not include Green practices.  This is an important reality check for each of us.  All too often we hear about a kind of proxy Green where people believe that they are being environmental because they buy some Green products or have some Green applications in their facility.  The problem is that this requires little commitment from each of us except to buy or install what is offered.

Think also the the small percentage of people who have a “Proxy Green” approach to the whole issue because they own a building that can be built new or improved with environmentally-friendly building products.  There really aren’t that many compared to the number of businesses in any city, state, or country that do not own their own building.  Yet, it seems that nearly 100% of the focus in on buying Green products and building Green buildings.  Are all the rest of us who collectively make an enormous impact on this world excluded from participation in this issue because we are excluded from these two aspect of environmental response?

Conversely, Green practices are universal.  All of us can adopt Green practices into the daily routine of our families, workplace, or general duties.  If only we knew more about Green practices, that is.  After CFL bulbs, programmable thermostats, tuning up the car, and recycling our trash; what else is there?  In fact, there are hundreds of simple and practical steps that we all could take if we were better informed.  To actually take advantage of all these options, the process can be intimidating.  That is where the connection to a Certified Green Consultant is important.  They know how to incorporate hundreds of simple and cost savings solutions into any home or business.

Locate a Certified Green Consultant in your community at the Green Consultant Directory.  If your business would like to be a certified Green business, you should visit the Green Business League and find out more.  Going Green is not an amateur sport.  To to it well and comprehensively, the assistance of a professional Green consultant is extremely helpful.   In the end, the goal is to get everyone to do their “Fair Share” in this global crisis issue.   The more people that we enlist in the program, the better our world becomes.  So, while we may support the increased volume of Green products and the growth of Green buildings, the most crucial issue of all is the universal participation of people everywhere in Green practices.

Since the beginning, we have understood that there is a great deal of leeway given to those who tout their products or services.  This has likely been around from the earliest times when merchants came to town to sell their wares.  And, the public is not ignorant about the hype process that precedes the sale of nearly everything.  We are not pleased with the snake oil salesman, but frankly we like to be charmed by what he has to say.  Recently, a show called “Pitchmen” relates how people get an idea to market where we learn that how you present is frankly more important than the product itself.

Greenwashing at its best is hype or overexaggeration of the benefits of the product.  At its worse, greenwashing is a premeditated and intentional desire to mislead people knowing that the product or service is not as represented.   Wikipedia defines Greenwashing as “Greenwash (a portmanteau of green and whitewash) is a term used to describe the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly, such as by presenting cost cuts as reductions in use of resources.”  This might pass as a form of “Business as Usual” in the advertising marketplace except that the underlying issue of health impact and environmental concerns make this misrepresentation worse than innocent deception.

How is Green washing done?  Let me offer 10 ways a product or service is Greenwashed:

1- Green Misdirection:  Ignore the real issue and divert attention to the “other things” that are better.  For example, Fiji bottled water operates out of a LEED silver certified building, though they transport the water more than 4000 to the US, put it in plastic bottles, and ship it again throughout the country.

2- Green by Proxy:  Do what Clorox did, since bleach is not a Green product, they bought out Greenworks and now they hail their Green contribution.  Green by Proxy is buying someone else’s Green solution without really changing the way you operate.

3- The Green Dumb Down:  Why not produce the every same product that has been diluted or slightly altered and slap a Green label on it?   Dilution of harmful ingredients does not make a product Green.

4- Charitably Green:  Tout the fact that a few pennies from every purchase (of an otherwise non-Green product) will be given to a Green charity.

5- Token Green:  This process is defined as doing the minimum that can be done to make something Green.  So, a hotel can put in CFL bulbs and declare that they are Green although there is so much more than could and should be done.

6- Green by Discovery:  No change is required with this method.  The company discovers that there is already something Green about their product or service.  There is no Green commitment except for the realization that they tripped over an idea already in existence.

7- Green Pretenders:  There are more than a few products that blatantly misrepresent the products, poorly label, or confuse the buyers to produce sales even though the product is not Green by any reasonable standard.

8- Radically Green:  Some Green products are sold just for the environmental wackos (sorry, but its true).  The overhype is not on the product, but on the necessity to buy the product.

9- Mean Green:  Hate runs two ways.  Villianizing the opposition is kind of like the Mac vs PC commercials where the purpose is to denigrate the competition to make your product seem better.

10- Meaningless Green:  Some Green claims are not relevant to the subject.  So, does it matter that the package says, “No Heavy Metals,” “CFC-free,” or “No Bleach Added”?  These ingredients are either already banded or may mask other ingredient still in the product.

When a project called TerraChoice did a survey of 1018 products making 1753 environmental claims, they found that only one product made truthful claims.  The rest fudged, lied, and deceived the public with one or more of their environmental claims.

By the way, consumers should know (but generally don’t) that EPA registration does not mean a product is safe.  Terms like “Green,” Eco-Friendly” and “Earth Friendly” are not regulated terms.  Many companies actually make up their Green certification through a foundation that they privately fund.  And, everyone should know that labels may not contian fully disclosure of all the ingredients in the product.  There is simply a lot of room to fuel the Greenwashing mania.

This all leads to a difficult question, “Who can you believe?”  The ability to contact your local Certified Green Consultant is probably a smart choice for several reasons.  First of all, they can help guide your company through the maze of choices that are in front of us each day.  Secondly, they are part of a product-independent program under the Green Business League.  The pitfall of Going Green is not doing it right.  It is all to easy to follow a mistaken Green path that will come back to harm your reputation later on.  So, if you are going to Go Green, be sure to follow an “Authentic Green” path that will show that your business, product, or service is the real deal.