I read Mike’s post “PINKWASHING, AND FRIED CHICKED” and realized that green-washing and pink-washing are literally the same thing: misleading customers to make the assumption that purchasing their products or services can lead to a good cause.
As Mike said, consumers need to apply objective thought when purchasing products. But isn’t it a bit difficult for consumers to know which companies are actually green and offer real sustainable products or services?
A solution to this difficulty is provided by green rating systems.
There are numerous green rating systems, such as Goodguide, Treehuger and Corporate Register. But the one that caught my attention was Zumer.
Zumer calls itself the Wikipedia of sustainability: the largest database on corporate sustainability information.
It is a consumer oriented website that provides rankings on consumer brands, products and companies based on individuals’ personal preferences and user contributed research and ratings.
The overall score that a company gets is based on the consumers’ insights on the company’s performance on 45 different indicators in 4 categories: Environment, Society, Product Responsibility and Corporate Citizenship. The thing that I like about Zumer is that consumers (which include students, professors/teachers/researchers, companies, and interested individuals) get their chance to speak out by not only rating; they are also encouraged to post their comments and opinions on the site.
For example, here’s the rating of Kellogg from Zumer:
So maybe you can search your favorite companies on Zumer and see if they are as “green” as you thought.
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