Greenwashing Adverts face UK ban
Adverts claiming products are carbon neutral by using offsetting face UK ban. The Guardian reports "Advertising watchdog to begin stricter enfiorcement on use of terms such as 'carbon neutral' amid concerns over offsets" Read the story here.
About time the trickery of some of these companies and their claims were exposed.
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HAs King Charles stolen the green man ?
Central to the design is the motif of the Green Man, an ancient figure from British folklore, symbolic of spring and rebirth, to celebrate the new reign. The shape of the Green Man, crowned in natural foliage, is formed of leaves of oak, ivy and hawthorn, and the emblematic flowers of the United Kingdom.
But is he using the symbol to appear greener than he really is ?
But not everyone sees things that way:
For Charles to adorn his coronation invite with this symbol, when, as a hugely wealthy landowner, and unelected inheritor of money, security and status, he represents the opposite of everything the Green Man stands for, is disgusting.
He has stolen the Green Man from those who should be sheltered by its rough yet enchanted history at a time of environmental collapse, just as he has stolen his money and jewels and palaces from his British and colonial subjects. For all his ‘passion for nature,’ he is, at heart, just another monarch-exploiter, a kidnapper of symbols and public trust, part of a long chain of hierarchal rulers who abuse their power.
The Green Man is of the commons and the wild places, is for the rebels, the dissidents, the heretics and freedom fighters, and is at home in communities of human and nonhuman kin; those who want to share the earth together, grow together, and live in balance.
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Saudi green initiative
#Didyouknow there are 60+ different ecosystems within Saudi Arabia? #KSA is working to protect 30% of its land and sea by 2030, as well as breed and rewild endangered native species including Arabian oryx and sand gazelles.
Aim: Protecting 30% of KSA's land and sea by 2030.
And how they're going to do that when they produce more Oil and Gas than ever and Saudi Aramco is one of the worlds biggest O&G companies. No conflict?
And while we're looking at Saudi Arabia: Neom "The future of Tourism" is surely a great example of dystopia being planned right now.
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The big zero ... sponsored by ....
"We’re back! Bigger, better and bolder. Join us on 20th June for the Big Zero Show, where you will network with hundreds of businesses and public sector organisations taking bigger steps to net zero. You’ll hear from great thought leaders across various sectors and we will help you with practical advice and solutions."
But the list of sponsors includes: Drax, Shell, Total (all committed to fossi fuels) ... would be interesting to know what their pitch is?
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Active Travel England gets advice from Shell
Active Travel England is responsible for making walking, wheeling and cycling the preferred choice for everyone to get around. Our objective is for 50% of trips in England’s towns and cities to be walked, wheeled or cycled by 2030.
By making everyday journeys simple, easy and fun, Active Travel England is working to give people the choice to leave their car at home. We’ll do this by working alongside councils to:
give people an alternative to driving by delivering new, protected routes and junctions, and quieter roads and neighbourhoods
put active travel at the heart of towns and cities, including ensuring that £3.2 billion of government investment on active travel delivers to new high national standards
embed active travel into 1,000 major new developments, reducing local congestion
provide the tools to deliver ambitious active travel programmes, including training local officers and councillors in active travel delivery best practice
make it safer, including developing new solutions and guidance on safe infrastructure design based on solid insight and evidence to reduce the risk of near-misses and collisions
Active Travel England is an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Transport.
Presumably that's also fewer car journeys? Wonder why they've appointed someone from Shell onto their board?... David Bunch as a non-executive member appointed chairman of Shell UK Ltd and now has corporate responsibilities for Shell’s activities across the UK. Is this another example of Shell trying to clean up their image ? Like they did at the Science Museum ?
"Non-executive board members provide Active Travel England with strategic advice, support and challenge. They work with the management team and attend Active Travel England board meetings."
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Clean rivers or filthy ones?
Greg Hands MP (Chairman of the Conservative Party) tweets: "The Conservative Government is cleaning up our rivers 💧 and beaches 🏖️."
But reported on Sky News "Huge increase in raw sewage released into UK waterways and sea, data reveals
The figure is an increase of 2,553% over five years, according to the Labour Party's analysis of Environment Agency (EA) data, released under the Freedom of Information Act." (Sky News 22/8/22)
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New fines for greenwasher
"Greenwashing’ firms face steep new UK fines for misleading claims" reported in the Guardian
Legislation could see companies fined millions of pounds for making unproven environmental assertions to sell their products"
So those companies who think they've been able to get away with saying whatever they want about their products will have to start being more careful - about time. Got any good examples ! Have a look around the site - maybe starting with Our Government ....
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Coca-Cola among brands greenwashing over packaging
"Claims about plastic packaging being eco-friendly made by big brands, including Coca-Cola and Unilever, are misleading greenwashing, according to a report.
The Changing Markets Foundation says claims that companies are intercepting and using “ocean-bound” or “recyclable” plastic to tackle the plastic pollution crisis are some of the most common examples of greenwashing." (Guardian 30/6/22)
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Innocent Rewilding: are they at it again?
Having been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards for their misleading advert on whether their bottles could be recycled, Innocent drinks are at it again. If you believed everything you they wrote you'd think they were the greenest most sustanable company in the world. Well ....
Read the story in The Guardian about their misleading claims.
In case you'd forgotten .. Innocent drinks is owned by Coca Cola. "Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are ranked as the world's top plastic polluters for the 4th consecutive year according to Break Free From Plastic, whose latest global Brand Audit report also charges the same leading plastic polluters for fueling the climate crisis." https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org
Their website is full of claims about keeping average temperature rises to under 1.5 degrees, now widely considered to be impossible. Science Based targets and 'official' approval for their plans and actions. Net zero by 2030 ?? And Carbon Offsetting forms a big part of those plans. Read why Carbon Offsetting is a problem?
Sam Akinluyi, managing director at innocent drinks, said: ‘Our Big Rewild campaign aims to show how we can use the power of nature for positive impact; all while making urban communities and the planet healthier places to be.
(Read their website with a critical eye!)
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innocent accused of greenwashing - complaints to the advertising standards authority
Innocent drinks have been accused of “greenwashing” by plastic pollution campaigners after releasing an advert that claims buying their smoothies can help save the environment.
Activists, who recently occupied the company’s headquarters, have lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about claims made in an advert entitled Little Drinks, Big Dreams. The ASA is currently reviewing the evidence submitted by the activists and Innocent, and is expected to make a ruling imminently.
Plastics Rebellion asked innocent to pull their #greenwash advert which claims that they are 'fixing up the planet'. In fact they are owned my Coca Cola who are the biggest plastic polluter on the Earth. Instead of listening to them, they had them all arrested.
Kirsty Hunter, Innocent’s marketing director, said when the ad launched that the company hoped the message would turn consumers into “recycling activists”, but campaigners have argued it is misleading to suggest that purchasing single-use plastic can save the planet.
Douglas Lamont, the company’s chief executive, said at the time: “The launch of Little Drinks, Big Dreams is an important moment for us. It gives us a platform to talk about the many fantastic initiatives within the company – from carbon reduction to recycling, sustainable farming and helping people and communities – sharing information and what we’ve learned along the way and hopefully inspiring others.”
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Drax: The green row over the uk's largest renewable power plant ... the controversy of wood pellets as a green energy source
Find out more about DRAX - the the UK's single biggest source of CO2, getting massive subsidies from the UK government and claiming to be Carbon Neutral (because of the murky business of not properly allocating Carbon emissions to the place they are used). Read the stories on the BBC here .
Although Drax Power Station is phasing out coal burning, it is still the single greatest emitter of carbon dioxide in the UK, burning more wood than any other plant in the world. More at biofuelwatch
The company behind a power plant accused of being Britain’s biggest carbon emitter is described by The Prime Minister as an example of the “best of UK innovation and green technology”, read about it in The Independent.
The Drax power plant in Yorkshire – largest power station in the country producing 6% of the UK’s electricity and it is one of the biggest single sources of carbon emissions in the UK. Ask the Government they’d say it is officially virtually carbon neutral. It now burns Biomass.
Uses trees which have been turned into pellets. The claim is that it’s green because new trees will be planted, trees which will take between 30 and 100 years to fully grow and be a 1:1 equivalent. Technically this isn’t Britain’s problem since the carbon emissions are the responsibility of the country that supplies the biomass, not the country that burns it, and virtually all the biomass that Drax burns is imported. Biomass is zero rated at the point of combustion so it can be ignored when the UK calculates its progress to net zero.
Drax says it produces 12% of the UK's renewable electricity, and “The emissions produced when biomass is used are accounted for in the land use sector” (in other words in the country of their origin). “To count them again in the energy sector would be double counting” ..... “The sustainable working forests we source from ... are harvested for other sectors like construction ... Drax only sources from forests which are stable and growing, which ensures there is no carbon debt”
14/15 million tons of CO2 every year, and we’re told this is green power.
£800m in subsidies to Drax in subsidies because they burn biomass. Being used to mislead people into thinking we are further along the road of the Industrial Green Revolution.
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Nike: more shoes or more sustainability?
Nike:
25 pairs of shoes sold every second
Annual Revenue 2021: $44.5billion
Every couple of years they put something on the market made of hemp or recycled materials
but ...
is it enough?
Nike has taken some steps in recent years to improve its transparency index, environmental impact, labour conditions, animal welfare etc. And has also been awarded with prizes and recognition for these changes.
But as we all well know it’s far from becoming a sustainable business. Overall it’s a start, but when you keep repeating the same actions over and over it’s not a start anymore, it’s mockery.
So @nike will you please start making ONLY sustainable shoes and radically revolutionise your production so that you could really lead the market to REAL CHANGE?
We’re tired of these little steps which mean basically nothing compared to the rest of your revenues.
We’re pretty sure you can afford it, thank you and don’t forget to #greenwashmyballs
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