Hogwash to Greenwash

As an early proponent of going lean and green, I have been gratified to watch the corporate environmental sustainability movement accelerate in recent years. To the extent that electronics companies pursue real objectives to reduce inefficiencies, power usage and waste byproducts, I am optimistic that the industry is moving to reduce risk and capture opportunity.

I am sometimes dismayed, though, how many companies appear to be mostly interested in the PR buzz they create by announcing green intentions. Too often, the press release covers too small steps and is followed by too little action. At TFI, we call this “green wash.” We’ve been known to turn down opportunities to work with companies whose management lacks genuine intentions for making bona fide progress on green and lean for sustainability and profit.

I hope green wash has less to do with cynicism and more to do with the corporate officers not really understanding what it means to competitively pursue economic and environmental sustainability. Based on TFI’s consulting services in this area, and based on the findings of my book, Lean and Green: Profit for your Workplace and the Environment (Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco, 2001), there are two criteria I use for judging lean and green versus green wash:

1) Having a well thought out system for measuring increased environmental efficiencies and the resulting ROI metrics, since one is to become more profitable through green. Companies that either have such metrics or are clear in their intentions to develop such metrics are not just green washing.

2) Having a strategy to rethink business models and product lines. Going green is a creative act, as creative as the product and manufacturing process innovation. Without the top leadership’s intention to pursue a creative approach to rethinking the business from a lean and green perspective, there’s not much hope they’ll get beyond green wash.

Maybe you can think of others indicators of real green intentions; please weigh in with your comments.

Posted by Pamela Gordon, February 16th, 2007

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2 Responses to “Hogwash to Greenwash”

  1. From: Adam
      on February 17th, 2007

    I am with you, and have an ongoing commentary on my website. Currently, I am in a dialog with Dyson, Andis, Black and Decker, and Patagonia. Let me know what you think, and if you have another manufacturer you might think needs attention.

    Here is one post:
    http://www.greenions.com/consumer-products/household-goods/dyson-vacuums/

  2. From: Technology Forecasters, Inc. | Global Consulting and Research for Outsourcing and the Environment
      on May 25th, 2007

    […] The issue of offsets was brought to my attention by Saxton Rose, the creative director of TFI’s Web site, after he had read my blog on green wash several weeks ago. Voluntary carbon offsets do have the potential to become another form of green wash with more PR benefit to the adopting company than any real impact on the environment. I would not excessively praise companies that adopt voluntary offsets, especially if that is the sum of their green efforts. […]

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