On Surviving Greenwash Through Participation

I’m not 100 percent sure, but I think that the age of Greenwash – a word which has been around since 1986 (I’ll have you know) – is coming to an end. What is pulling Green back from the depths of hell is the advent of actual participation. Organizations too, are finding that it can increase profit retention and create work opportunities.

It’s like when the people you least expect start to talk about certain “investment opportunities” at work, daily. Or when your grandmother calls you to tell you that, “Gold looks like a good buy right now”. The same way parents can ruin a buzz-word, or signal its decline, reverting to greenwash-speak is no longer the way to go.

In which case, I no longer accept your “that’s just greenwashing”, (or similar) rebuttals or arguments. Technology has finally reached a usable point, and especially where technology is needing to be replaced (see in cities later in the post), green tech is the next big buy. One corporate example is the emergence of energy-based server systems (which Q9 Networks out of Toronto offers), rather than a square-footage based price models. Saving money makes it easier – and hardly a tough decision – to choose the energy efficient service.

Peter Wolchack, Editor at BC’s Backbone Magazine, says that this time (acknowledging that there are failures in the past) there is a greater sense of urgency, coupled with a greater emphasis on practical solutions. Mr. Zwick, at Schulich School of Business stresses that successful green products and services are ones that will be mainstream and cost-effective, “…because at the bottom line, there are still only a [handful] of consumers who will pay a premium for environmentally sound products.” In other words, the initiatives which work are those that deliver a benefit without requiring us to dramatically change our lifestyle.

When corporations are finding it finally profitable and marketable to be green (as it begins now), and cities join the initiative and practically force citizens to use the greener services, we all become green through participation.

**And I mean more effective participation than facebook applications and applications on blogs (which are neat nonetheless). Sometimes is takes a personal effort. Again, are we that lethargic?

In Cities: Just some examples from more than a dozen which have proposals to remove highways from downtowns.

• An ageing expressway in Oklahoma – an elevated 4.5-mile stretch of Interstate 40 – will be demolished in 2012. This will be followed by an old-fashioned boulevard and a mile-long park taking its place.
• Buffalo wants to get rid of its Skyway, an elevated highway that blocks access to Lake Erie.
• Nashville wants to replace 8 miles of interstate – parts of I-65, I-40 and I-24 – with parks and neighborhood streets.
• Washington has considered demolishing the Whitehurst Freeway, an elevated road that runs along the Potomac River in the tony Georgetown neighborhood. (the plan is on hold)
• Akron, Ohio, launched a $2 million study on tearing down its 2.2 mile Innerbelt that leads downtown from I-76/I-77.

Read the source article.

This is the greening of cities, and it is part of what I meant by practical, forced participation. Furthermore, there is no doubt that citizen participation will be encouraged and sought for the parks’ creation and handiwork; green technologies and services will be paramount in the marketing of contractors, and (therefore) the infrastructure work itself will be pushed to that end. To an environmentally beneficial extent, it has become about not being left behind: a sign of an uptrend taking its course.

So as you see your city’s infrastructure change, and your employer’s or you home life green-up, can you survive a greenwash? Can you make a practical effort to survive the fake?