TowardsSustainable Practice

Communication without ‘Greenwash’ -

Verification, Measurement and Reporting

Contents

Communicating without ‘greenwash’

Verification and verification standards

Measurement and measurement tools

Reporting tools

Communicating without ‘Greenwash’

What is ‘greenwash’ and why don’t we want to go there?

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off: e.g. “Energy-efficient” electronics that contain hazardous materials. 998 products or 57% of all environmental claims committed this Sin.

2. Sin of No Proof: e.g. Shampoos claiming to be “certified organic,” but with no verifiable certification. 454 products and 26% of environmental claims committed this Sin.

3. Sin of Vagueness: e.g. Products claiming to be 100% natural when many naturally-occurring substances are hazardous, like arsenic and formaldehyde. Seen in 196 products or 11% of environmental claims.

Source: TerraCoice

4. Sin of Irrelevance: e.g. Products claiming to be CFC-free, even though CFCs were banned 20 years ago. This Sin was seen in 78 products and 4% of environmental claims.

5. Sin of Fibbing: e.g. Products falsely claiming to be certified by an internationally recognized environmental standard like EcoLogo, Energy Star or Green Seal. Found in 10 products or less than 1% of environmental claims.

6. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils: e.g. Organic cigarettes or “environmentally friendly” pesticides, This occurred in 17 products or 1% of environmental claims.

Source: TerraCoice

Carbon Off-Setting

• A “carbon offset” is an emission reduction credit from another organisation’s project that results in less carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than would otherwise occur.

• Many types of activities can generate carbon offsets.

Source: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/What_You_Can_Do/carbon_offsets.asp

http://www.cheatneutral.com/

Verification and

Verification Standards

Don’t BS, get verified!

Verification

• A formal assertion of validity given when an organisation or product can be shown to comply with rules and guidelines.

• Confirmation of compliance with standards is best provided by an independent third party.

• The evidence for such confirmation is often shown by a label or endorsement.

• Verification of organisations and products allows an organisation or producer to communicate to stakeholders their move toward sustainable practice.

Activity

• Using the internet, go to Health Pak.com

http://www.healthpak.co.nz/index.php

• If you were looking for a supplier of ‘sustainable’ products for your organisation, would you be convinced by their products?

• Focus on:

– Labels – well known? Verified?

– Comprehensive information?

– Transparency?

Measurement and Measurement Tools

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there…

If you are not keeping track of the mileage you don’t know how far you have gone”

Why Measure?

• Measuring helps to evaluate, control, budget, motivate, promote, celebrate, learn, and improve.

• In order to attain and keep your verification standard you are often required to show improvement in your environmental or sustainability standard, e.g. QualMark and CarbonZero.

• Measurement is also often a legislative requirement, e.g. water resource consents, emissions.

Indicators

• Indicators are often a great tool for clearly communicating data.

• They help to amalgamate different sets of data to give a picture of whether the business is heading in the right direction.

• There are numerous tools that can be used to indicate if your business is making progress.

• Warning: unless numerous indicators are used in collaboration to show all parts of a business, you will be missing a whole systems perspctive.

Reporting Tools

Where do they help, and what are their limitations?

Reporting Tools available

• GRI

• Corporate Social Responsibility

• Environmental Management Systems (for example ISO 14001)

Summary

• The best way to avoid ‘greenwash’ is to talk about what your business is doing after you have finished doing it!

• Ensure sound monitoring and reporting on all areas of your business – create transparency.

• Use verification wisely. Ensure it is a reliable brand.

• Just get on with it! The more you DO to move towards sustainability, the more people will take notice and congratulate you for it.