Greenwashing's latest victim: one massive“bamboo-zle.”

The last few weeks have brought an unusually large number of environmental announcements that appear set to change the way we do business in Canada, particularly Quebec. The text below is the second of three mini-analysis' of these changes, and what they may mean for you.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB) recently accused companies of “bamboo-zling” consumers. Both are now accusing retailers of deliberately misleading consumers by labeling products as “made of bamboo fiber,” and forcing them to instead adopt the term “bamboo rayon.”

Yes, the raw material used to make bamboo fabric is indeed the fast-growing plant that requires little or no pesticides or fertilizers and is reputed to have natural anti-microbial properties. But the process to turn bamboo stalks into into those super-soft shirts, towels, underwear is so chemical intensive that the finished product does not retain any of bamboo 's natural properties. The products are therefore more accurately described as rayon or viscose, synthetic fibers similar to nylon. For a visual description of the chemical transformation, click here.

How to communicate "Green"

How green is your organization? Light, medium, or dark green? At what point can an organization say "we're green," without being met with the skepticism that often greets such claims?

The answer, unfortunately, is never. "Green" is a kind of holy grail with no universally accepted definition, so some people will always cry Greenwash no matter how green your organization is, so don't pretend to be absolutely green.  Even some of the worlds most sustainable companies, such as Interface Flor, prefer to talk about their goals to be greener still, rather than brag about what they've done. They do this to avoid the inherent risks of greenwashing (see previous post, a case study on Canadian Tire)

Companies should first seek to answer this question ...

The Cost of Greenwashing

I spent some time this past week looking through retail-store fliers and websites in search of boxing week deals. One in particular caught my eye, which I think illustrates the risks of making products seem greener than they are...