{"id":3172,"date":"2008-07-15T13:17:38","date_gmt":"2008-07-15T19:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=3172"},"modified":"2008-07-15T13:17:38","modified_gmt":"2008-07-15T19:17:38","slug":"greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Greenwashing\"<\/a>Birgitte Rasine is the chief evolution officer of LUCIT\u00c0<\/a>, a non greenwashing pioneer in socially responsible design & communications.<\/em><\/p>\n

Raise your hand if you\u2019ve ever seen a therapist, or known someone who has. Raise your other hand if you\u2019ve ever heard that little voice inside your head telling you you\u2019re not quite so good, not quite so beautiful, not quite so successful, as person X or company Y.<\/p>\n

OK ready? now that we\u2019ve all got our hands up in the air, we can all do the wave. You might laugh, but we really should\u2014to clear away all the smoke and circumstance pumped into our media airwaves by a seductive green mist that\u2019s settling heavier and thicker on web sites, print advertisements, TV commercials, product packaging, press releases, and yes especially blogs (not this one though). We\u2019ve all heard the term: greenwashing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SourceWatch, an initiative of the Center for Media and Democracy, defines the term<\/a> as \u201c\u2026the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plenty has been written about how to recognize greenwashing<\/a>, how to avoid it, and sadly, how to do it without getting caught. But that\u2019s all after the fact. For me the key question is, why does it happen in the first place? Lots of opinion abounds on this too: it\u2019s greed. It\u2019s fear. It\u2019s jumping on the green bandwagon. It\u2019s not wanting to be left behind even if you don\u2019t have the resources to truly green your products and services. It\u2019s all this, but at the core of it, when you really dig down, it becomes clear that greenwashing is really driven by a lack of self-esteem.<\/p>\n

Yes, companies have feelings too. They\u2019re the collective sentiments of an organization\u2019s management, staff and consultants. When an organization or company feels it\u2019s not smart enough to innovate or re-engineer its existing products or services, not honest enough to back its communications with accuracy, truth and integrity, not wealthy enough to invest in more sustainable supply chains or processes, not dedicated enough to draft and enforce environmental and social responsibility policies, it\u2019s suffering from organizational low self-esteem and self-respect, which are immediately mirrored in its relationship with its own employees, its customers, clients, suppliers, investors and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n

When an organization greenwashes its communications to the outside world, the message it sends out is, we\u2019re not good enough to be green, but we\u2019d like to be. That \u201cgreen wanna-be\u201d attitude<\/a> is a killer. It only reinforces the corporate psyche that produced it in the first place.<\/p>\n

All the classic symptoms are there. The inability to appreciate and celebrate one\u2019s own virtues and worth. The envy of others who\u2019ve \u201cmade it.\u201d The negative attitude toward progress and innovation. The lack of drive or energy to inspire one\u2019s own people. The resistance to change one\u2019s way of thinking and operating. The fear of leaving one\u2019s \u201ccomfort zone\u201d regardless of how damaging that comfort zone is\u2014especially deadly are the comfort zones of companies that pull in piles of cash from unsustainable products or services, because then the deception is perfect. And much harder to justify leaving.<\/p>\n

As long as greenwashing works, the greenwashers will continue doing it. They\u2019ll never break the cycle of negativity and they\u2019ll never feel good about themselves.<\/p>\n

You see, this is why it is a critical responsibility that you, the reader of this blog and a citizen of this planet, hold. Become knowledgeable about the signs and symptoms of greenwashing. Learn to recognize the signs so that you too can help protect the perpetrators from themselves. Demand of the companies that greenwash, that they respect themselves, you and their other stakeholders more, and that they tell you the truth, not lies\u2014whether white, green or any other color of the business rainbow. Tell them you\u2019d rather have substance than fluff, honesty rather than PR, and that you\u2019ll respect and honor them back. You\u2019ll stand by them when they go through their hard times, and celebrate with them when they help change the world.<\/p>\n

They say in therapy the only person who can truly change you is you. This is just as true for companies as it is for the individual human being. But the companies, just like that cousin or sibling of yours who\u2019s got everything going for them but just can\u2019t seem to get out of their funk, need a little push. They need to hear from you how much you think they have to contribute to the planet and society, and how much more successful they\u2019ll be if they truly go green.<\/p>\n

So talk to them. Give them a reason to change.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Melissa Goldstein at Flickr<\/a> under a Creative Commons license<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Birgitte Rasine is the chief evolution officer of LUCIT\u00c0, a non greenwashing pioneer in socially responsible design & communications. Raise your hand if you\u2019ve ever seen a therapist, or known [ … ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,2],"tags":[760,84,968,969],"yoast_head":"\nGreenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem • Sustainablog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem • Sustainablog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Birgitte Rasine is the chief evolution officer of LUCIT\u00c0, a non greenwashing pioneer in socially responsible design & communications. Raise your hand if you\u2019ve ever seen a therapist, or known [ … ]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sustainablog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"aria\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"aria\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"aria\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/de8fb7d622071e4b21f9f7def3da9df8\"},\"headline\":\"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/\"},\"wordCount\":856,\"commentCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"greenwashing\",\"marketing\",\"psychology\",\"self-esteem\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Media\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/\",\"name\":\"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem • Sustainablog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\",\"name\":\"Sustainablog\",\"description\":\"Since 2003, Sustainablog has been one of the pioneers of sustainability news online.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sustainablog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":142,\"caption\":\"Sustainablog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/de8fb7d622071e4b21f9f7def3da9df8\",\"name\":\"aria\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8292b9fdca576388b9acce21240db445?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8292b9fdca576388b9acce21240db445?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"aria\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/author\/aria\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem • Sustainablog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem • Sustainablog","og_description":"Birgitte Rasine is the chief evolution officer of LUCIT\u00c0, a non greenwashing pioneer in socially responsible design & communications. Raise your hand if you\u2019ve ever seen a therapist, or known [ … ]","og_url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/","og_site_name":"Sustainablog","article_published_time":"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00","author":"aria","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"aria","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/"},"author":{"name":"aria","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/de8fb7d622071e4b21f9f7def3da9df8"},"headline":"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem","datePublished":"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00","dateModified":"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/"},"wordCount":856,"commentCount":9,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["greenwashing","marketing","psychology","self-esteem"],"articleSection":["Business","Media"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/","name":"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem • Sustainablog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00","dateModified":"2008-07-15T19:17:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Greenwashing is Lack of Self-Esteem"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/","name":"Sustainablog","description":"Since 2003, Sustainablog has been one of the pioneers of sustainability news online.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization","name":"Sustainablog","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg","width":200,"height":142,"caption":"Sustainablog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/de8fb7d622071e4b21f9f7def3da9df8","name":"aria","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8292b9fdca576388b9acce21240db445?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8292b9fdca576388b9acce21240db445?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"aria"},"url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/author\/aria\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}