Starbucks introduces the $1 reusable plastic mug that bears the Starbucks logo and is white to match its disposable cups. The coffee chain will offer a dime discount to anyone with the reusable mug, hoping this will encourage coffee lovers to bring them in. This new offering comes in the wake of the Starbucks sharply reducing its goal of having 25% of its cups be reusable by 2015 to 5%.
But will it drive change?
I recently came across the syllabus I put together for a graduate-level course in green marketing and communications and looking it over, it occurred to me that the materials included in the required reading list would outfit a nice library for anyone interested in learning about the topic.
Buying energy efficient windows is a win-win: the environment wins because less energy need be generated through the burning of fossil fuels, and the consumer wins by saving money on energy bills. It’s no surprise, then, that many homeowners are willing to pay a higher price for windows that claim to be energy efficient. What is surprising, however, is that many of the energy-efficiency claims made by window manufacturers, distributors, and sellers are outright false, or at least vastly overstated. Now consumers are forced to make a decision: are these green windows, or is it all a bad case of green washing?
There are some serious contenders for greenwash gold, per Greenwash Gold 2012. This is a campaign that has been developed by three organisations – London Mining Network, Bhopal Medical Appeal and UK Tar Sands Network to bring companies with notorious backgrounds into the limelight. Many corporations use big events like the Olympic Games to portray a feel-good company but what are they hiding? How can we turn this huge platform against them?
Transparency , product stewardship or life cycle management are some of the key hallmarks of any business, especially eco-centric businesses. Ben Grossman, through his guest lecture at Tufts University wants to bring home the point that a business can improve its branding and green marketing by concentrating on the basics. I had the privilege of guest lecturing at Tufts University in late February to a class titled “Social Marketing.” I focused my presentation on green marketing and sustainability, with a particular…
Keystone makes no economic sense for America. Once we take into account the true cost of oil including subsidies, environmental damage, and military costs, oil is far more expensive than the alternatives. The best thing we can do for the American economy and for American businesses as a whole is to wean ourselves from oil as quickly as possible.
McDonald’s is launching an ad campaign focussed on its growers. The local food movement has caught on amongst concerned citizens wanting to know where their food really comes from. Obviously McDonalds has been watching and wants a piece of the “eat farm fresh” ideology.
McDonald’s U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Neil Golden told Ad Age, “We thought putting a face on the quality of the food story would be a unique way to approach this. We acknowledge that there are questions about where our food comes from. I believe we’ve got an opportunity to accentuate that part of our story.”
Why does all this sound like a bunch of greenwash storytelling?
Wal-Mart stores in China have been mislabeling pork products as “organic,” even though the meat is not organic. This isn’t the first time Wal-Mart stores not only in China but the United States, as well, has mislabeled products as “organic,” so be sure to double-check organic products when buying them at Wal-Mart stores.
Ever wondered where your favorite eco-friendly item came from or what its supply chain actually looked like? I sure do. Supply chains have become so complex and convoluted these days, there is no wonder that it is the number one issue that plaques sustainability initiatives and fosters greenwashing claims. One entrepreneur from San Francisco, Julian Coleman, probably also had the same questions when he founded Janum.
Janum is a unique online marketplace launched September 15, 2011, with the aim of making long supply chains transparent so that consumers, brands and producers all benefit. For every product sold on Janum the company shows consumers, through facts and videos, the places and people that made them, the fabrication steps, the ingredients and their impact on human and environmental health.
