Greenwashed: Why We Can T Buy Our Way To A Green Planet

“Too many businesses and environmental groups have led us to believe that if we buy the correct collection of products, we can save the planet.” (Kendra. 2012). Kendra in her book ‘Greenwashed: Why We Can’t Buy Our Way to a Green Planet’ critiques the message of - buying green can help eradicate greenwashing. Over years, we as consumers have become aware of the environmental and health impacts of the products we use in our lives, especially consumables like food, medicines, cosmetics, etc. The idea of having a lesser carbon footprint has become an emerging trend. We want healthier options in hope of our better health of our surroundings and us. Not only there is a demand for natural consumables but also for other products like apparel and lifestyle

He talks about the simple solution that is to have a standardized environmental marketing guideline to reduce green misinformation. A solution where companies may work in a non-eco-friendly way or even produce no eco-friendly products, but have to be truthful about it by not labeling it green. Even though this is a disputable solution when it comes to its harmful effects on the environment, it could stop greenwashing. But instead of forming a “green” board or an organization, there are third party firms that certify products as green, organic, eco-friendly, etc. And the unfortunate part of this system is that there are no regulations for it too. Anyone can set up a third party certification company; they may or may not even test the product. They can label the product as the most natural thing available in this world (when it may not be) and advertise it. Because of the third party, a company can certify that their product has a certain natural element in it even when it truly doesn’t contain even a single particle of it. The author mentions how it’s all a money game, and thus the market is full of green-labeled products. (Dahl.