Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director of Co-Op America , recently wrote to members of the organization to say that corporate greenwashing has her seeing red. Gravitz cites the following examples of corporate offenders offending her with their greenwashing:
Dawn dishwashing liquid’s "Make a Difference" campaign encourages people to protect marine animals. Meanwhile, Dawn’s maker, Procter and Gamble , refuses to remove potential carcinogens from its products…lobbies against minimal labor standards in China…and – you guessed it – tests their products on animals.
Gravitz goes on to explain that her organization seeks nothing less than to expose multi-billion dollar greenwashers and promote businesses that are truly green. Co-op America has a Responsible Shopper program that does just that. And apparently the program is working because Unilever called the organization to see how they could improve their practices to get a better rating on Responsible Shopper.
She concludes by saying "Greenwashing is not an innocuous PR tactic. It is a con game…" Indeed when profits come before people and planet and a corporation pretends that it is the other way around, their behavior is nothing less than criminal. We at Global Investment Watch stand by Co-op America in their efforts and we will continue to do our part in exposing corporate malfeasance.
Co-op America is based in Washington DC and will change its name to Green America in 2009. Over the years the group has employed four strategies:
- Empowering individuals to make purchasing and investing choices that promote social justice and environmental sustainability;
- Demanding an end to corporate irresponsibility through collective economic action;
- Promoting green and fair trade business principles while building the market for businesses adhering to these principles;
- Building sustainable communities in the US and abroad.
Co-op America’s agenda has similarities to that of an Obama administration. With a new green-friendly administration taking root in Washington DC, Green America’s uphill battle may level out just a bit. Let’s hope so.
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