Free Ride for Greenwashers [1]
Submitted by Bob Burton [2] on
Speaking at a conference on greenwashing [3], the campaign director at Corporate Ethics International [4], Kenny Bruno, criticized the Sierra Club [5] for its deal [6] with the chemical company, Clorox [7]. "How do we trust Sierra Club if they're getting money?" he asked. Leonard L. Gordon, director of the Northwest regional office of the Federal Trade Commission [8], told the conference that, while they occasionally intervene if advertisements make clearly false environmental claims, they don't challenge those that are less flagrant. Christine MacDonald, a former employee of Conservation International [9] wrote in her 2008 book "Green Inc.: An Environmental Insider Reveals How a Good Cause Has Gone Bad" that "partnerships" with environmental groups give companies "easy ways to appear green without making significant changes." As a result, these partnerships are "slowing down the corporate awakening to environmental and social responsibilities [10]."