From CNET Green Tech:
Whether marking printers or produce, the increasing number of “green” claims on products can make it hard to separate sincere efforts at sustainability from marketing fluff.
A wiki-style Greenwashing Index, run by an environmental marketing firm, invites people to upload suspicious-looking ads. Eco-themed groups have sprung up on MySpace and Facebook. A steady stream of new green blogs continues to join a chorus of thousands. Flock, known as the “Web 2.0 browser,” will release an Earth Day edition pre-loaded with green media feeds.
Most notably, perhaps, is the emergence of dozens of “green” Web sites, many from tech industry veterans, that aim to put like-minded people on the same page. These social-networking efforts enable users to assess products personally, offering a balance to green labels and ad campaigns.
One of the more popular Web sites inviting users to answer that question is Sustainlane, which has collected more than 20,000 user-generated listings of products and services since 2004.
Ratings site Alonovo enables users to weigh ratings according to their personal values. Someone could, for instance, tailor a score to reflect a greater concern with the humane treatment of animals over the use of toxic chemicals.
Mobile tools that could help to inform a decision at a store are only beginning to bubble up. Along the lines of natural disaster alerts delivered via mobile phone, Twitter, or Facebook, several new tools harness text messaging to inform shoppers.
Amazon’s TextBuyIt text-messaging system, unveiled last week, enables people to comparison shop while strolling store aisles.
Consumer advocacy group Healthy Toys offers a service whereby shoppers can send the name of a toy via SMS, then receive a reply noting the possible presence of toxic ingredients at a low, medium, or high level.
The nonprofit Blue Ocean’s FishPhone service launched in the fall a mobile Web page and service enabling users to SMS message the name of a fish and receive a note back about likely fishing practices and potential toxic chemicals in the species.
But where can one find an all-in-one, Web-tied listing of a vast range of products for a mobile device?
“It has been very difficult to develop applications for handsets without the huge expense of porting across the four major carriers,” said Dara O’Rourke, an associate professor of environmental science and policy at the University of California at Berkeley. “They have not made it simple, which is why most people focus on simple SMS.”
O’Rourke and other researchers at Berkeley’s Consumer Information Lab have experimented with a prototype mobile service that would enable shoppers to scan a bar code to pull up a menu of product details.
However, technical hurdles and the challenge of pooling data from myriad sources hamper the development of sophisticated mobile tools, O’Rourke said.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Nathan // Apr 14, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I hope that something can stop the tide of greenwashing, or the environmental movement is setting itself up for a huge crash and burn. If people stop trusting the label “green” it will become more and more difficult to convince them of the importance of genuinely green technology
2 morizongreen // Apr 14, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Until we have green standards that are accepted universally, the best solution I have found to prevent greenwashing is to read and to write peer reviews online about products and services I have either purchased and used, or have researched myself and posted my findings…good or bad. In addition, the perspective and information I gain from community member feedback have been most helpful in avoiding greenwashing.
3 Meryn Stol // Apr 15, 2008 at 4:43 am
Hi, I like your analysis, but could you Please turn on full feeds. Summaries really suck!
4 admin // Apr 15, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Full feeds are on. Sorry about that. MG
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