Ecopol Project - Portland State University

 

This Andy Singer cartoon is an excellent depiction of the concept of 'greenwashing'. Clearly, just because something is marketed as 'green', does not mean it truly is 'green'. One of the biggest problems of 'greenwashing' is that most of the time, it is successful. The average consumer is not going to take the time to research a claim that a company is making when it is marketing its product as being 'green' to the consumer. The average consumer is going to consciously or subconsciously associate that product and/or company as being in some way 'green'. We, as consumers, need to take the time to question the 'green' claims that we see being advertised. I leave you with another cartoon that lists for us ten things we should look out for to avoid being 'greenwashed'.

By Melissa Carter
Source: http://gallery.artnotoil.org.uk/v/art+not+oil+2009/green_marketing_singer.jpg.html