Green washing explained

Greenwashing – the pitfalls

Green washing pitfalls and examples

Last month in our newsletter we introduced you to the term Greenwashing and we committed to sharing examples of this in the coming months. Just to reiterate in case you missed this article:

green washing facts

From electric cars to reusable shopping bags, it’s undeniable that “going green” is one of the fastest growing trends out there today. This is great news for the eco-friendly consumer, as companies are scrambling to offer greener versions of their products to meet demand.

Unfortunately, many companies have also noticed that it’s much cheaper to claim to have environmental, health or safety standards than it is to actually live by them. When a company misleads its customers about the safety or environmental impact of its products or practices, it’s called greenwashing. For more detailed information visit Eco Watch.
 
So this month here are our two examples:

1. Let’s look at how to make sure your “all natural” products are the real deal for example:
Lots of companies advertise their meat as “wholesome,” “premium quality,” and “all natural.” Despite these labels, they source their meat from factory farms and feed their animals genetically modified (GMO) corn with saltwater for a plumping effect. We encourage you to READ the labels carefully or ask your butcher.

2. Household cleaning products.
After groceries, household cleaning products are what most of us are willing to pay a little more for if they are both family-friendly – meaning SAFE for skin contact AND environmentally safe.

Some manufacturers want to meet consumers halfway by selling products that are 50% green.

Again we strongly suggest that you take the time to read the labels until you find a safe product. If it is not safe to eat, it is not safe to use. Remember you usually have skin contact with your cleaning agents and you breath in their aerosols so if you are using them on your kitchen appliances you are eating them as well!

Many of these products show a leafy forest – the image implying fresh and safe - but what about the chemicals. Our personal motto is if you can’t pronounce the words then don’t use it.

Do you want to wash up without worrying about having to rinse your plates because of the chemicals in your detergent or use your dishwasher without chemicals so that your plates are not impregnated with nasty chemicals. We have some recipes for you and will be running workshops in the very near future to help you make these. They are simple and inexpensive so you will be inspired to continue making them forever more.

If you have noticed that when you use a commercial cleaner to clean the oven you need to practically leave the house for several hours before you can actually enjoy breathing the kitchen air again. Well next month we will post a recipe for a safe oven cleaner .

We hope this article has been food for thought and has given you a different perspective when reading statements made by some companies.

Sue and Nikki