bemoreeco

In part two of our green wash feature, (part 1) we put the energy and oil companies under the microscope and ask if they are really doing their bit for the environment or pulling green wool over our eyes. Not every company that claims to be green is lying with many businesses spending millions reworking practices to become more environmentally friendly.

This can be demonstrated by Inc.com’s Green 50 which charts what businesses are doing to become more environmentally friendly. However with all these efforts there are many more big companies getting their big green paintbrush out.

Take energy giant Shell for instance. They bought out their big guns to shout about their commitment to a low carbon future but started selling off their Solar business as it wasn’t making ‘much profit’ and putting more money into oil sands. Oxfam criticised Shell in 2008 for massaging its emissions figures of oil sands as a “dangerous green wash” that hides its contribution to further climate change and puts poor people around the world at greater risk

In early 2009, Energy regulator Ofgem sparked controversy by making the decision that power companies wishing to offer green tariffs would be required to make additional efforts to reduce carbon emissions. This means that that currently suppliers offering green tariffs need to demonstrate that they are making additional investment in renewable energy or carbon offsets, on top of their legal obligations. The top six energy companies signed up to this. However this decision was slated by Dale Vince, MD of Ecotricity who accused the six of greenwash and said that this action would divert investment from increasing renewable energy capacity.

So what do consumers think? We know we are getting wiser about greenwashing and the web is helping us spread our distain for it. Consumers are quick to use the web to condemn green washing and voice their skepticism about corporations, researchers from Nielsen Online found during a recent survey.  “When it comes to the environment, consumers are insisting on both transparency and consistency from the corporations they patronise,” said Jessica Hogue, research director for Nielsen Online.