The environmental bandwagon is a pretty crowded place these days. And consumers appear finally willing to choose and pay more for environmentally sound products.
Not surprising then that if you pick up any glossy magazine, you'll notice a startling number of advertisements touting the green benefits of products and services.
So what if your company's name is associated (negatively) with one of the most horrific maritime oil spills of all time. You can still trumpet your research division's contributions to hybrid automobiles.
And even if the consumer can't actually recycle used paper towel, there's no reason a manufacturer can't dress up their ad with images of blue boxes (well, it's MADE from recycled paper…)
Sandra Odendahl, Director of Environmental Affairs for RBC Financial Group is fed up with Madison Avenue's opportunistic and misleading environmental claims. In conversation with producer Peter Stock she runs through her Greenwashing rant list (some of them will surprise you), shares her tests for Greenwashing, and explains how to identify a truly green company.
(0m13-18m18)
Tidbits
At the end of my interview with Sandra Odendahl on Greenwashing, I noticed that she still had a long list of examples that we hadn't heard. So, I turned the mic back on and asked her to run through the rest of her list.
(18m20 – 23m00)
