“Green Wash” and the games people play…

The annoying thing about “green wash” is that makes us all so damn cynical – hang on – there other annoying things about it.

Like the fact that giant brands can say what they like; use their huge marketing budgets to give their product a fake green halo – even though said product might be banned in mainland Europe and be completely unsustainable in terms of performance, production and environmental impact.

The thing is we are all suspicious, doubting Thomases and that is partly because it is so hard to find out the facts.  So here are some tips on how to spot green wash games.

The first and easiest green wash to spot is the fatuous uses of words like green, eco and enviro – they mean nothing, so are impossible to challenge. Companies that have solid credentials to back up their statements use them – those that don’t blather.

If a material is said to be recyclable, ask if it is being recycled and find out what the company is doing to encourage or assist its customers to recycle its products.

Watch out for wishy-washy claims like ‘natural’ – everything in our world is natural, even things that perhaps we don’t like much like greenhouse gases and deadly poisons.

On a more positive note, look out for UK manufacturers that have ISO 14001, this is an ongoing environmental management system that is certified by an outside body and it can’t be faked.

Another great tool for the construction sector is the BRE Green Guide to Specification, which provides information on the environmental impact of building materials.

Despite the use of the word Green, the Guide takes a rigorous approach, containing assessments of over 1500 specifications that are soundly based on numerical data..

So perhaps we don’t have to be totally cynical all the time, maybe it’s a case of being informed sceptics – with a little effort, we can learn to scratch the surface of green wash and find out what is underneath.