Caught Ungreen-Handed

This is a hall of shame where is listing of a few proven and well-known and unspeculated Greenwashing incidents. The plan here is to update the list as fast as possible with a hope that this list will not have to grow forever. However, you are free to draw your own conclusions and post them as comments as well. To help you draw your own conclusions, many links that bring to perspective different views will also be listed. I will need help from visitors, as well, to keep both list of greenwashing incidents and and links that discuss them updated. Visitors can report their observations of Greenwashing through comments.

-In 1980s, Chevron Corporation launched one of the most infamous greenwashing ad campaigns in history. Its “People Do” advertisements were aimed at a “hostile audience” of “societally conscious” people. Their ads consisting mainly of seducive slogans, quotations, pictures and cartoons lasted for 15 years. The campaign made Chevron one of the only oil companies that people trusted in protecting the environment. In the late 1980s The American Chemistry Council started a program called Responsible Care, which shone light on the environmental performances and precautions of the group's members. The loose guidelines of responsible care caused industries to adopt self-regulation over government regulation.

You can do a reality check yourself and interpret on this companies policies by visiting the following links:
-http://www.envirowatch.org/chevron.htm
-http://www.laluzloca.com/Ad_Club/PDF/green_mkt/ChevronPeopleDo.pdf
-http://www.civilianism.com/futurism/?p=4535


-In 2000, British Petroleum, the world’s second largest oil company, spent 200 million dollars on rebranding their company. Part of their rebranding was use of the slogan "beyond petroleum" and a new green and yellow sunburst design for their logo. A large advertising campaign gave BP a greener appearance to the public, overpowering the voices of activists. But in reality, BP has been cited as the most polluting company in the US based on EPA toxic release data in 1991. BP has been charged with burning polluted gases at its Ohio refinery (for which it was fined $1.7 million), and in July 2000 BP paid a $10 million fine to the EPA for its management of its US refineries. The US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), a political lobby non-profit organization in the United States and Canada, in a research stated that between January 1997 and March 1998, BP was responsible for 104 oil spills.

You can do a reality check yourself and interpret on this companies policies by visiting the following links:
-http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2085/
-http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/02/bp-deepwater-horizon-oil-spills
-http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/bps-wins-coveted-emerald-paintbrush-award-worst-greenwash-2008-20081218
-http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=10&contentId=7036819