"Green" marketing bandwagon

[Mahk]

So I've thought we should have a thread on how mainstream people are now getting "green guilt" and are being targeted by manufacturers with "green" (environmentally friendly/ "natural") products, some with rather dubious claims but not a terrible thing overall if at least some really live up to their promises and such companies are more likely to be vegan than average so worth examining.

I'll start off with one I just can't stop laughing about. I saw Greenworkscleaners web address at the tail end of a TV commercial and went to their site. No search engine to search for the words "animals" or "vegan" but I pressed on. "We don't animal test our products." Hurray! One down one to go. Do they contain animal products? I couldn't find an answer but found this Q. and A. to be hilarious on their FAQ (http://www.greenworkscleaners.com/products/faq.php?#a_2) page:

Q. What does natural mean? Are Green Works™ products 100% natural?
A. Currently, there is no industry standard definition for natural cleaners. To create Green Works™ natural cleaners we set ourselves a very stringent standard. The ingredients must come from renewable resources, be biodegradable and free of petrochemicals. Green Works™ cleaners are at least 99% natural. In certain cases we had to use synthetic ingredients, like the preservative and green colorant. But we're working hard to develop natural alternatives so the entire line can be 100% natural.

OK, so their products aren't 100% natural because they contain an artificial green coloring. Why do they make their products green? So people will know that they are all natural, but they aren't all natural because of the green colorant!:p

I can't get over how funny this is to me. I wonder if any of them working there even have a clue how ridiculous this is. Products that aren't green in color won't clean kitchen counter tops as well?!:rolleyes:

As people find new things being marketed as "green", good or bad, add them to this thread. Thanks.:)

[Gorilla]

i found it quite amusing that British Aerospace were planning to manufacture 'green' bullets, but apparently they dropped the idea in August due to higher production costs.

[Mahk]

^I didn't get that. The bullets are/were biodegradable?:confused:
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My electric company has a new scam (http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2008/05/02/operation-greenscam-1?blog=177). They will sell naive, green-guilt-ridden customers more costly electricity and claim it is from solar and wind power, but in truth all electricity sources are pooled together so there is no way of truly knowing where a specific electron came from! Customers will be paying more for no reason other than to ease their guilt!

[snivelingchild]

Ah, yes. Good ole' greenwashing. I love the chic trendy bags that say "I am made x% out of recycled bottles" which is funny because a lot of polyester was recycled way before they did it for "green" purposes. I love the fake hippie 'save the planet' and 'peace' shirts they have at target that are made with slave labor in china too.

[Sarabi]

It's the industrial capitalist constantly placing marketing needs above all else. We had this discussion in my Cultural Anthropology class today. One guy suggested that there was nothing wrong with exoticism in a commercial simply because it's not about education but is about commercialization. That's a pretty dubious excuse if you ask me. Social justice must take precedence over commercialization unless you want the industrial market system itself to dictate morality. Humans must decide upon morality - what is never a black and white issue - or else we might as well all just be machines.

[Mahk]

^ "exoticism"?:confused:

[Quantum Mechanic]

Did you ever find out if they contained animal products (though I do agree that this is a ridiculous thing that they do). I know that my parents had a cleaner called "Power Green", and my mom was assuming that this would mean that it would be more likely to be animal-friendly (which if it's actually environmentally friendly maybe though not necessarily, but I explained about how it's often used as a marketing gimmick).

[Gorilla]

^I didn't get that. The bullets are/were biodegradable?

the bullets were going to be tipped with tungsten instead of lead because it would have been less toxic to the environment. :rolleyes:


My electric company has a new scam (http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2008/05/02/operation-greenscam-1?blog=177). They will sell naive, green-guilt-ridden customers more costly electricity and claim it is from solar and wind power, but in truth all electricity sources are pooled together so there is no way of truly knowing where a specific electron came from! Customers will be paying more for no reason other than to ease their guilt!

British electricity companies have been doing this for years now. there are a couple of smaller companies that source their electricity from 100% renewables, but all the large companies source a fixed percentage from renewables which goes into the national grid and gets shared out between all their customers regardless of their tariff.

[Mahk]

Did you ever find out if they contained animal products (though I do agree that this is a ridiculous thing that they do)..

No I didn't. I did however discover that people who buy their plastic bottles are under no obligation to test the plastic bottles on animals:

"All Green Works natural cleaners are made using plant-based ingredients derived from coconuts, as well as essential oils. The products are formulated using biodegradable ingredients, are packaged in bottles that can be recycled and not tested on animals."

OK, maybe I'm being a bit pessimistic but thought I'd point it out.:p

Also, couldn't a grass fed cow technically be an example of a "plant based ingredient"?;):D

Source. (http://www.greenworkspresskit.com/fact_sheets.html)

[Risker]

I don't think the energy companies selling 'green' electricity is a scam. The more people that pay the premium the higher the percentage of the electricity is sourced from renewable energy. It doesn't matter where the specific electricity that comes from your power outlets comes from, it matters where the energy company source their electricity.

[Gorilla]

^ i agree to some extent but the electricity companies don't necessarily use the premiums to create more renewable energy, most of the projects they've been investing in are more because of government regulations than customers taking out green tariffs.

at least signing up to the green tariffs gives the power companies the message that people care about the environment.

[Corum]

I find that anything that is 'Green' costs twice as much as the ordinary. For example...
a company called 8inch in Newhaven makes recycled glass counter tops for kitchens.
The cost... £2000 +
Ikea kitchen worktop... £350

I think I'll stick to Ikea tbh! :D

[BlackCats]

There was a marketing ploy by the Canadian fur council to promote fur as "green" because it is reusable and biodegradable.:mad::rolleyes:

My friend bought me one of those "I'm not a plastic bag" bags and apparently they were made in China so they are not very ethical.

[Gorilla]

There was a marketing ploy by the Canadian fur council to promote fur as "green" because it is reusable and biodegradable.:mad::rolleyes:

i almost laughed at that it's so stupid. :satisfied:


My friend bought me one of those "I'm not a plastic bag" bags and apparently they were made in China so they are not very ethical.

a lot of unethical companies are trying to cash in on people's increasing interest in the environment, it's like Primark selling organic cotton t-shirts for £3 :rolleyes:

[BlackCats]

i almost laughed at that it's so stupid. :satisfied:

The website is unbelievable, they have a section called "respect for animals".:dizzy:

[citameht]

the bullets were going to be tipped with tungsten instead of lead because it would have been less toxic to the environment. :rolleyes:

New lighting is supposed to be green, but fluorescent lamps utilize quicksilver. LEDs on the other hand have usually gallium arsenide. Both are quite toxic, has anyone seen comparisons of the methods from this angle (excluding ads)?

Tungsten is likely less toxic than these but that doesn't make light bulbs a good default.

[Mahk]

I don't know much about the ingredients in light blubs but one would also have to factor in bulb life. If bulb "A" contains twice the amount of environmentally unfriendly compounds but lasts ten times as long as light bulb "B" then it is still the greener product because you replace it much less frequently.

LED's as a class usually have very long lives, I've heard.

[Sarabi]

Anyone listened to/read Michael Crichton's "Environmentalism as Religion" speech? Pretty interesting. He was obviously a really intelligent guy. I don't know much about environmentalism, so I can't say much about the accuracy of his claims, but he does raise some good points. And it reaffirms my reluctance to tout "global warming" as a reason to go vegan.

[Paganae Clothing]

..interesting thread..

LOL..I so understand why you found the Green Works QandA hilarious Mahk, people go out of their way to be green. I read in 'The Way We Eat - Why our food choices matter' by Peter Singer and Jim Mason, that locally grown vegetables and fruits is no actual guarantee that that they are more green because of the logistics..meaning that they are often transported on smaller trucks and have more chains/transits from the producer to the grocery shop. But they are not necessarily lees green produced either than a big enterprise of course! I guess there are a lot more variables in these kinds of things than meet the eye..
anyways, please check out our newly founded organic and fair trade produced vegan clothing brand (made in Nicaragua by the Fair Trade Zone and vegan because of our hooks/designs screen printed on the t-shirts). ..hope we can get on the "Green" marketing bandwagon, and stay on:)

www.paganae.net

Graeme
/paganae

[rastafairyem]

Interesting thoughts about the colorants used there mahk - I run a natural health & beauty company and think it is a shame that natural can sometimes mean boring as far as looks go - It seems a shame that something that is otherwise natural gets tainted for the sake of looks when there are plenty of natural pigments out there!

I use iron oxides, micas and other natural pigments myself - it seems that producers of products fall for cheap quick and easy artificial ingredients over paying a little more to get mineral pigments for a slightly higher price.

Also, I've been wandering about products that are bleached. Any thoughts on natural alternatives for whiter colours? Most things can be left natural and still be perfectly beautiful the way they are, however sometimes you get a nasty grey colour which I can understand putting customers off natural products. Titanium Dioxide is the only natural 'safe to use in cosmetics' whitening ingredient I know about, maybe lemon juice - that bleaches right?

Rastafairyem :)

www.greenspiritbazaar.co.uk (http://www.greenspiritbazaar.co.uk)

[jackson]

Glo-bull warming AGW is an utter scam. Tho if people cut down on meat because of it, it might not be such a bad thing. But where will it lead. Check out the http://green-agenda.com/

[Sgable84]

^I didn't get that. The bullets are/were biodegradable?:confused:
!
Thats what I was wondering!

Honestly I try to stay away from any cleaners like that, I usally just use baking soda and vinegar BUT I do sometimes use Seventh Generation products that are all natural (according to their website)