Wednesday 4 March 2015

Greenwashing, consumerism and materialism as environmental communication

Budinsky compares the importance of the relationship between advertising and capitalist ideologies. The article argues that, "...major corporations and big media are deflecting our attention away from [the need for on-the-ground activism] and replacing it with the apparently easy solution of green consumerism" (Budinsky, J., (2013), p. 208). The problem with green washing is that companies are more so concerned with making money through the idea of "saving of the environment" but really their main focus is still not the environment. There main focus is about the consumption of their product. 

Greenwashing according to Budinsky is "...the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service" (Budinsky, J., (2013), p. 209). This includes trade-offs, no profit, vagueness, irrelevance, fibbing, the lesser of the two evils and worshiping false labels. 

There are many examples of greenwashing that can used as an example to portray how companies frame their product to portray the idea of helping the environment but really their main concern is money. An example I found really interesting was the Eco Collection bath mitt. Upper Canada Eco Collection states that the bath mitt is made from bamboo. However, many don't question the fact that bamboo is a tough grass that probably takes a lot of harsh chemical processing to turn it into a soft bath pit for consumers to use on their bodies. In this case, I agree with the article is saying that today consumers are urged to help the environment by purchasing eco-friendly products but how can this occur when the environment is still being portrayed as something that can be bought and sold. The Eco collection bath mitt is a perfect example for this. Consumers are buying it because they think that since it's able naturally it cannot harm the environment. However, what their forgetting is that the product is taking resources from the environment to create that initial product. I think the problem here is that companies think that because they are reducing waste and recycling, it is okay for them to take from the environment, even though it's not! CBC also states in their article that when contacted about their recyclable vinyl packaging, the company said their packaging has all the necessary information available for consumers to make an informed decision. This relates to Budinsky's statement about fitting a neo-liberal agenda where the responsibility is placed on individuals to change their habits, rather than corporations. There is no idea of society or a community coming together to make a collective change but rather individuals are blaming corporations and corporations are blaming individuals decision making. Ultimately, I think that what it comes down to is that both individuals and consumers will have to work together to save the environment. However, at the time, it seems that everyone will take what they can take until they are left with no other choice but to stop. 


No comments:

Post a Comment