Browse
Engage
Research
Don't get us wrong. We love that companies are embracing an environmental ethic. We're thrilled that they're glomming on to the third week in April as a chance to preen their green feathers. Hey, we're GreenBiz. This is our world.
But like everyone else, we have our limits, especially when it comes to the gusher of Earth Day pitches and come-ons that find their way to us -- these days, starting in late March, culminating right about now.
To be blunt, there are some PR pitches that make our heads explode. Earth Day As Excuse to Announce Anything Green, for starters. Look How Green We Are, Even Though We're Not Being Very Specific, for another.
And please, please: Don't get us started on the opener, "Just in time for Earth Day ..."
With each noteworthy Earth Day announcement, we receive another dozen that are anything from boring to bad. Some make us laugh. Others just make us cringe.
For the third year in a row, we present some choice examples of Earth Day pitches that crossed our desks this year but fell woefully short.
Ground Control to Major Tom(cat)
The good folks at Litter-Robot (pictured above), purveyors of a capsule-like electronic robot litter box that retails for a mere $349, want all felines to have a greener Earth Day, and why shouldn't they? So, they've offered us human consumers a helpful list of eco-suggestions, such as making a pet bed out of old clothes or making wind chimes from cat food cans. Of course, after shelling out $349 for a robo-litterbox made from recycled materials, one might not be able to afford canned cat food, but that's another story.
Sadly, the Litter-Robot™ Earth Day campaign appears to violate Asimov's First Law of Robotics, that a robot must not cause harm to humans (in this case, their wallets).
Bottled Water Industry Self-Flagellation
As a resource-intensive and often unnecessary alternative to municipal water, you would think the bottled-water industry would want to lay low on Earth Day. Far from it. They've decided to go with the flow.
The International Bottled Water Association is touting the growth of PET plastic recycling, with a study showing recycling rates skyrocketing from 30.9 percent in 2010 to 31 percent in 2011. Crunching the numbers, we've calculated that amounts to 0.1 percent growth -- a drop in the bucket, as it were, considering that 69 percent of empty bottles still are finding their way into landfills.
Neat Trick
In a move that is both misleading and self-promotional, The Neat Company, which makes scanners and accompanying software, announced that it would make an unspecified donation to the Arbor Day Foundation for every "free Taming the Paper Monster e-book that is downloaded" from its website. The "e-book" is even billed as a guide for how to start living a "paper-LESS lifestyle."
Sounds good, but only if you know what Neat means by "e-book" and "paper-LESS." The 13-page PDF is more like a pamphlet, and it's not about how to use less paper, but how to keep less paper around you -- conveniently, using Neat's products.
I laughed out loud when
I laughed out loud when reading your list. Thanks! One question, though. You commented that "We've read that flying private is four times more carbon intensive than flying commercial." I'm not doubting you but I'd like to get a reference to back that up. Can you provide a study name or link?
These examples are all fairly
These examples are all fairly innocuous. It may be a little cheesy that they appear related to Earth Day, but then that day has become a bit of a staid phenomenon itself, so thoroughly mainstreamed there's very little of its original intent left. There's also a sort of maybe conscious language dilution going on; "green" in advertising language doesn't necessarily have to imply a connection to sustainability values just like "cool" doesn't often relate to "cold." Maybe this means that greenwashing has become so ubiquitous it doesn't offend anymore unless one digs very deep. Or maybe it's time to move on and focus more on the organizations and activities that do real harm while they sing sounds of sustainability. The good news is, the news isn't bad. But precisely that is the bad news.
I know I'm just repeating
I know I'm just repeating what other commenters have said, but are the last two so bad? Really? Or is it just comedic because "tee hee, sex!" Honestly, I'm happy I read this article because I had never heard of Kink Junkie, and their mission statement actually seems to be quite a good one. There is nothing wrong with including sustainability in your bedroom life as well as outside it.
Yes, Virginia, there's
Yes, Virginia, there's nothing wrong with being sexY. The sexy companies are doing a good thing - please put your hangups to better use than ragging against these guys.
The bottled water company - that's ridiculous. The whole thing is a waste, and I think bottled water is a plot by companies trying to get people used to paying for water so that they can privatize the whole thing, and then control the entire supply and therefore us.
The private charter company is part of a wasteful industry - although at least they recognize that there is a problem with their carbon footprint.
The cat box is too expensive, but at least made with good materials, that's better than a cheap one made out of some more toxic stuff. People spend a crazy amount of money on their pets. That boggles that mind.
Um, what exactly is wrong
Um, what exactly is wrong with the catbox company? It's made from recycled materials and is promoting upcycling crafts. How is that secretly anti-green?
And please, explain to me what is wrong with the last 2 at all? You're not allowed to be green and also enjoy a sex life? There is NOTHING in this article of any substance, and nothing about these releases, other than the bottled water, makes me roll my eyes. This "article" however does.
I don't see ANYTHING wrong with $5 being donated to carbonfund.org simply by following a twitter feed if the company is actually making a real effort to be eco-friendly and not just pretending to be. Since you've offered NO facts in this article that show that it isn't, readers have no idea. The adult toy industry in general is a large one, and uses a LOT of plastics and other chemicals. I'm all for them cleaning up their act in whatever way possible and consumers being able to use their products without worrying what they're doing to their bodies or the planet.
It's easy to pick on IBWA or
It's easy to pick on IBWA or whoever else is selling us back our municipal resources for dollars on the dime, but honestly that misses the point. If consumers want to drink stale, plasticy water in a bottle someone will sell it to them. If IBWA are trying, within that classic supply/demand setup, to be better environmentally then that should be acknowledged.
The problem isn't the sellers of bottled water, it's the consumers who'll buy it.
No matter how small bottled
No matter how small bottled water's carbon footprint might look compared to other beverages, it's the only beverage most consumers could get with their own footprints walking toward the nearest tap. Unless there's an emergency or specific situation driving the need, there should be little bottled water use where water sources aren't compromised. I don't suppose the IBWA release also pointed out its exploding sales growth in the last ten years where tap water is clean, safe and abundant? That's 100% wasteful extraction, production, transportation, refrigeration, and packaging destination, my friends.
IBWA recognizes the sixth
IBWA recognizes the sixth annual increase in the recycling rate of PET bottles was modest this year, but the other aspects of our Earth Day release are substantia. Over the past eight years the gram weight of the 16.9 ounce “single serve” bottled water container has dropped by 32.6%. The average PET bottled water container weighed 18.9 grams in 2000 and by 2009, the average amount of PET resin in each bottle has declined to 12.7 grams. In keeping with this year’s Earth Day theme of “A Billion Acts of Green,” we're proud that during this time span, more than 1.3 billion pounds of PET resin has been saved by the bottled water industry through container light-weighting. In 2008 alone, the bottled water industry saved 445 million pounds of PET plastic by reducing the weight of its plastic bottles.
As IBWA's release also points out, the environmental footprint of the bottled water industry is quite small compared to other packaged beverages and shrinking fast. We work for better sustainable practices all year, not just on Earth Day.
It's tough being a flack for
It's tough being a flack for one of the most wasteful industries in existence. There is no reason to use bottled water; we have a perfectly fine infrastructure throughout the nation for delivering clean water.
You can talk all you want about how you're reducing the resin use, but the fact remains that by trucking water around the nation you're using a huge amount of gasoline and oil, and generating a huge carbon footprint. How could you be more green? Sell empty PET containers that people can fill at the tap. There you go, that's a real win.