Wednesday, February 25, 2009

greenwash and bushfires

First [from terrachoice.com, via ENN]:

Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off: e.g. “Energy-efficient” electronics that contain hazardous materials. 998 products or 57% of all environmental claims committed this Sin.

Sin of No Proof: e.g. Shampoos claiming to be “certified organic,” but with no verifiable certification. 454 products and 26% of environmental claims committed this Sin.

Sin of Vagueness: e.g. Products claiming to be 100% natural when many naturally-occurring substances are hazardous, like arsenic and formaldehyde. Seen in 196 products or 11% of environmental claims.

Sin of Irrelevance: e.g. Products claiming to be CFC-free, even though CFCs were banned 20 years ago. This Sin was seen in 78 products and 4% of environmental claims.

Sin of Fibbing: e.g. Products falsely claiming to be certified by an internationally recognized environmental standard like EcoLogo, Energy Star or Green Seal. Found in 10 products or less than 1% of environmental claims.

Sin of Lesser of Two Evils: e.g. Organic cigarettes or “environmentally friendly” pesticides, This occurred in 17 products or 1% of environmental claims.

Also:

Bushfire Talk by friend Bruce Williams, based in North Warrandyte, Australia. It's horrifying how little information is available to those in bushfire-prone areas, and Bruce has just set up a site to discuss safety strategies and tactics. If you know someone in a hot, dry climate (Malibu in a month or two?), point them over here.

2 comments:

  1. Don't forget that most rechargeable batteries contain a significant amount of cobalt, the mining of which currently drives warfare in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and at the current rate of production of flat-panel displays, the world's supply of Indium will probably be extinguished within 5 years :)

    Happy Wednesday!

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  2. I knew things were bad, but...

    ::weeps under bed in fetal position::

    ReplyDelete