Top 10 Greenwashing Campaigns of 2009

The Dirt on Green:

This one deserves to be on the list for that picture alone. Maybe cooking the earth is the wrong message for a product that purports to be green. The only reason Traeger claims that their grills are green is that the bbq pellets are made from recycled sawdust; the grill itself has zero green cred.

Read the whole story: The Dirt on Green

Comments

[Jpwill]

04:34 AM on 12/24/2009

There's nothing special about these ad campaigns. Everywhere you look companies are jumping on the green bandwagon. The fact is you can't green consumerism. Buying stuff you don't need, no matter how it's made or what it's made of, is never going to be environmentally sound.

Best thing to do is buy nothing. If that sounds impossible, meet the No Money Men, who have been doing just that for years!

http://www.greenexplorer.ovi.com/getinspired/europe/united-kingdom/the-no-money-men/

[steppenwolfsayshi]

11:50 PM on 12/23/2009

I love the Citgo ad. We have it here. It's been one of my picks for worst ads of 09. Its appeal to consumers is totally confusing.

[jsarets]

11:47 PM on 12/23/2009

Some of these criticisms are a bit silly.

Using sawdust waste as cooking fuel isn't a bad idea. It could be composted, but that releases a large portion of the carbon content as CO2 anyway. Of course, we should never harvest trees especially for fuel, as grasses/herbs offer a shorter and more efficient carbon cycle, but where lumber products are necessary, it's reasonable to dispose of cutting waste as fuel.

Diesel engines operate at higher compression ratios than spark-ignition gasoline engines and are therefore more thermodynamically efficient. That's a fact. Modern petrodiesel is lighter (mostly C9-C18) and very low in sulfur compared to the diesel of yesteryear. And the lightest and cleanest of all possible diesel fuels, dimethyl ether (DME - C2H6O), is easy to produce from cellulosic waste!

Finally, it's easy to mock the self-aggrandizing nature of the green building industry, which sometimes adorns its creations with "green kiosks" and such. But many of these buildings are designed to be technology showcases almost as much as mere buildings. As tacky as it seems, it's reasonable to have a "kiosk" in the lobby where guests can learn about the various design concepts the building uses to conserve energy and water, recycle waste, and benefit the local environment/community.

[Kaviraj]

09:39 AM on 12/24/2009

Faved and fanned.

While all production is environmentally unfriendly - wasting water being the main problem - it is good that finally building comes up to scratch in energy conservation.

And to bash the ad for a "green kiosk" while it boasts windturbines on the roof and insulated walls and windows that make for huge energy savings was in my eyes also rather childish.

So that was to me the worst case of greenwash bashing.

[up420oz]

10:06 PM on 12/26/2009

I have tried the T-grill at a trade show, fantastic smoke flavor, even cooking temp across the entire surface.

Way to exspensive to actually buy.