Trick question: if Monsanto or a coal company put up a few solar panels on the roof of their corporate headquarters, would that get them certified as "green"?
You think not? Well then you haven't heard that a McDonald's in Santa Barbara, California, has been certified green for installing waterless urinals, energy efficient hand dryers and an Energy Star ice machine (saving themselves some money, of course - but hey that's just another kind of green, right?)
Didn't the folks who certified this McDonald's see the film "Supersize Me?"
McDonald's is a global corporation responsible for more cases of childhood and adult obesity and diabetes than government statistics can keep up with. And every McDonald's outlet gets most of its food from a highly polluted and polluting industrial agricultural system that is destroying thousands of acres around the world, plus adding toxic chemicals to our waterways and streams -- including our bloodstreams.
I'm sure the certifying organization thought they were doing a good thing by praising any green efforts, however small, but they failed to connect the dots. They saw only the tiny changes and didn't open their eyes to behold the huge industrial food system that lurks behind every local McDonald's store - and the harm done by this behemoth.
Seriously, folks, this greenwashing thing is really getting out of hand.
Think I'm making this up? Check out the story at http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/090909_green_program_certifies_five_local_businesses