Toban Black

[In this post I basically am following up another one titled "Waves of greenwash"]

Body Shop marketing in a mall

Shop for The Earth!
Buy from the Planetary Guardians!

——-

Exerpts from an article by Stan Cox in CounterPunch -
“The Political Economics of Greenwashing: Green as a Blackjack Table” (in 2008)

“In their desperation to keep the American economy afloat, government and business will be tossing overboard any proposals for real environmental protection. No time for such romantic foolishness when there are investments to be protected.”

“Not that we won’t be hearing about the environment; indeed, the next [commercial expansion] spurt, if it comes, is likely to be clothed in a green as green as the felt on a blackjack table.”

“For more than 30 years, The Body Shop and its CEO, self-styled anti-capitalist capitalist Anita Roddick, avidly cultivated a corporate image as pioneers of high business ethics. But The Body Shop has been dismissed by critics as no more than a world leader in pale-green consumerism.”

“The Body Shop can’t be considered an environmental leader.” “[As John Entine has said about Roddick]: ‘She sold cosmetics made mostly with water, colorings, fragrances and preservatives made from petrochemicals. Body Shop packages beauty notions in plastic bottles, an anathema to serious environmentalists, and ships them around the world in carbon-belching trucks and planes. From an environmental perspective, its business model is a train wreck.’”

(In the rest of his article, Cox wrote more about those points — as well as others. There is more writing about The Body Shop; other sections cover ‘Beyond Petroleum’ ‘BP’ and corporate ‘organic’ foods. It’s been more than a year and a half since the article was published, but it still is worthwhile. I haven’t looked at the book associated with it though.)

(Around the same time, the same author finished an article titled “SUVs Without Wheels”. Here are exerpts that I’ve snipped out of there.)

——-

Here’s another example of greenwashing -

Matt (in this May blog post) -
“In this month’s Performance Bicycles catalog there’s a bicycle jersey made of petroleum products with an overweight character symbolizing a non-recyclable petroleum product that’s a key component to internal combustion vehicles, responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions in our region. But he’s touching a plant, so I guess that makes it green.”

—

This video is about consumer product greenwashing issues -
“Greensumption”

The video alternates between satire and critique.

(It was made here in Ontario, evidently — by the way.)

—

(Photo by Mike)

A Greenwash Guerilla in London, England

The words “greenwash resistance” are written on his guitar.