Permaculture in New Zealand

I get really phkd off by the false claims of pseudo green products, the companies that peddled them and the way the sheeple buy these products and state/belive they are making a difference!

I think it is important that all permaculturalists are aware of the seven sins of greenwashing as defined by the Terrachoice company of Canada

• Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off: e.g. “Energy-efficient” electronics that contain hazardous materials <engergy efficient bulbs fall into this category! Chew>
• Sin of No Proof: e.g. Shampoos claiming to be “certified organic,” but with no verifiable certification
• Sin of Vagueness: e.g. Products claiming to be 100% natural when many naturally-occurring substances are hazardous, like arsenic and formaldehyde
• Sin of Irrelevance: e.g. Products claiming to be CFC-free, even though CFCs were banned 20 years ago
• Sin of Fibbing: e.g. Products falsely claiming to be certified by an internationally recognized environmental standard like EcoLogo, Energy Star or Green Seal
• Sin of Lesser of Two Evils: e.g. Organic cigarettes or “environmentally friendly” pesticides
• Sin of Worshiping False Labels: e.g. products that, through either words or images, gives the impression of third-party endorsement where no such endorsement actually exists; fake labels, in other words

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwashing

We are all guilty of falling for these greenwash claims but at least if we are aware of them we can mitigate against them in our designs

GE (General Electic AKA Greenwashing experts) produces some of the best examples of greenwashing I have seen

GE's Ecomagination advertisement for clean coal using models for miners