Save Eco Destinations

Created by: Marketing Degree

By Hunter Richards

Greenwash (verb, \ˈgrēn-wȯsh\): to market a product or service by promoting a deceptive or misleading perception of environmental responsibility.

Companies have been launching major ad campaigns to show off green products and services, but many of their claims are questionable. Greenwashing is threatening the credibility of legitimate environmental marketing and turning would-be green consumers away from the hype.

So how can we know who’s telling the truth about supposedly green products and who’s just greenwashing?

We can increase transparency and put an end to greenwashing through carbon accounting. A new kind of software is a key component of the solution.

Scrutiny of green business campaigns is reminiscent of the demand to hold corporations accountable for their financial reporting. The U.S. is still a leader in financial accounting, but we need to develop the same infrastructure for environmental accounting to restore credibility.

Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software is becoming the foundation of this infrastructure, and the market is growing. ECA software enables companies to track and measure all the components of their carbon footprint and find opportunities to lower costs and reduce waste. It’s expanding the potential for corporate environmental transparency.

When the transition fully takes hold, greenwashers could disappear entirely.

For ECA software and environmental accounting adoption to get rid of greenwashers, we need action in five main categories:

• Clear government action on regulations
• Adoption of carbon accounting principles
• Expansion of Scope 3 emissions accounting
• Better green business incentives
• Demanding, informed consumers

Clear Government Action on Regulations

lncreased coverage of existing new policies and decisive action on new legislation could quickly boost the adoption of carbon accounting and ECA software. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, which requires businesses that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse gases annually to disclose their emissions to the Agency, could be strengthened to include smaller businesses. Firm action on new legislation could also help encourage ECA software adoption and end greenwashing.

Adoption of Carbon Accounting Principles

Stricter requirements for disclosure of standardized corporate emissions information, now more feasible with the adoption of ECA software, would provide a precise way to examine a company’s environmental record. When such a measure exists and becomes widely used, one will only need to refer to these numbers to get an impression of a company’s overall environmental performance. It will be a lot more difficult to conceal corporate environmental impact during marketing campaigns.

Expansion of Scope 3 Emissions Accounting

Mandatory inclusion of suppliers’ emissions and other indirect emissions sources in company environmental reports (Scope 3) would prevent under-reporting of emissions; all emissions would be measured and reported without room for loopholes. Requiring Scope 3 measurement would also spread more adoption of general carbon accounting throughout the supply chain. When a business must account for Scope 3, it must ask its suppliers to track their carbon footprints; a chain reaction could quickly increase the number of companies with comprehensive carbon emissions reports.

Better Green Business Incentives

Using ECA software to identify eco-friendly savings opportunities can make it cheaper to truly go green, making it unnecessary for businesses to greenwash in the first place. Businesses often find that shrinking their carbon footprints and minimizing costs can go hand-in-hand. Government incentives can also encourage eco-friendly business practices. ECA software could alert users to new opportunities to take advantage of government incentives as more of these opportunities emerge, ensuring that green sincerity is in the best interests of businesses.

Demanding, Informed Consumers

Demanding the hard numbers from standardized carbon accounting reports, while boycotting the proven greenwashers, forces businesses with green marketing campaigns to prove their sincerity or risk failure. After all, fully informed consumers won’t be fooled. When standardized carbon accounting is required and ECA software is available, companies won’t have any more excuses to conceal their carbon footprint. The final blow to greenwashing will be dealt by informed, rational consumers.

Hunter Richards is the accounting market analyst for Software Advice, which reviews hospitality and travel accounting software along with other systems. To learn more about ECA software and greenwashing prevention, check out Software to Hold “Greenwashers” Accountable.

Stephen Jannise over at Software Advice has recently begun publishing a series of posts on businesses going green. He’s devised a short survey whose insightful results will be revealed in about a week. Go take the survey!

I checked it out after he got in touch with me about it and really it takes two minutes to complete. The survey results will help us all learn about consumers’ points of views regarding companies that go green, including whether they do it for the planet or to bloat their sales and which aspects of a company-going-green are most luring to green-leaning consumers.

In his post, Jannise writes about Wal-Mart, IBM, Pepsi (these three are among Gartner’s Top 10 Supply Chains of 2010), Whole Foods, and Patagonia and what these five companies are doing in their effort to go green. He sheds light on their progress and asks some provocative questions.

It’s a very interesting topic. In light of Wal-Mart’s  treacherous dealings with its own employees and their unions and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s assertion that climate change is a myth (excuse me?!), how green could these companies really go? We’ve got to watch out for greenwashing.

Although he doesn’t cover these points, Jannise looks at the issue from another angle and offers some encouraging words:

“Financial gains may be their real reason for going green, but their success would nevertheless encourage others to follow their lead. Many of the companies implementing these changes have reported a positive return on their green investments, which proves that you can protect the environment and your bottom line at the same time.”

Wise words. Check it out!

The government of Fiji created the Fiji Ecotourism Association in 1995. One of its alleged aims is to “improv[e] the welfare of the local people.”

There are, supposedly, several eco-resorts and National Parks and Reserves to visit. You can learn about local culture by attending a talanoa (storytelling) session about traditional local medicines, legends, and history; you can attend their mekes, a cultural feast featuring traditional song and dance.

Now, the definition of ecoutourism relies partly on the concept of being respectful and furthering the welfare of local communities; and learning about their culture from a reverential perspective sounds great.

But can ecotourists really help locals with their business in a land ruled by a violent and oppressive military regime?

It’s a question worth asking, and I think the answer is a bold no.

By supporting ostensible ecotourism in Fiji (or any kind of Fijan business) we are supporting a regime guilty of human rights violations, widespread censorship, and a refusal to hold elections. Boycotting is a significant way in which we can pressure Fiji’s government to change its tactics, as the country is heavily dependent on tourism for GDP growth.

Let’s look at a couple of examples why the idea of ecotourism in Fiji may be an oxymoron.

Air pollution caused by cruise ships

Ecotourism in Fiji: Cruises

Tourism companies apparently get very excited about hosting “cruising enthusiasts” and even host cruise companies and operators. Ironically,

Cruise ships generate an astonishing amount of pollution: up to 25,000 gallons of sewage from toilets and 143,000 gallons of sewage from sinks, galleys and showers each day. … Cruise ships dump untreated sewage from toilets once the ships is three miles from shore.

And you don’t think this crap (literally) is going to affect Fiji’s marine ecosystems? Exactly.

Here’s more:

Each cruise ship carries an average of 3,000 people and produces as much sewage and waste as a mid-sized city. Tons of raw sewage, garbage and even hazardous waste are produced and disposed of each day by a single ship. This constant discharge of waste into our oceans is multiplied by dozens of ships operating every day in our precious oceans.

Cruise ships do not have to comply with environmental and water quality protection laws that are required for municipalities. They are allowed to dump sewage and garbage directly into our oceans—and they do!

Incredibly, the most common practice of cruise ships is to dump waste at sea, usually at night. While they are not supposed to release raw sewage or other solid waste into state waters (3 nautical miles from shore), ocean currents can return discharged sewage, polluted waters and garbage to our shores. Fish do not know boundaries.

Cruise liners also impact air quality. Diesel engines spew out diesel exhaust equivalent to 10,000 cars each day per ship and are kept idling, even when in port.

Well.

Ecotourism in Fiji: Sports

Sports options on the island of Denarau include golf and tennis. But get this: runoff from fertilized lawns and golf courses causes nutrient pollution (nitrogen, phosphates, etc.), which in turn can cause algal bloom, sometimes known as red tide.

The effects of algal bloom, also caused by nutrient runoff from sugar cane farming in Fiji, include the production of neurotoxins that cause high rates of mortalities in fish, seabirds, marine mammals, and the litany of species that inhabit coral reefs, as the reefs die. This, as a result, impacts the Fijan communities that obtain their food and/or livelihood from the ocean.

More and more, it seems to me like “ecotourism in Fiji” is indeed an oxymoron.

In the recent post Ecotourism in the Everglades of South Florida, Cinthia Pacheco touched on The Everglades Day Safari, which appears to be an example of a greenwashing company due to the vagueness of its eco claims and general dearth of information on its purported environmental responsibility.

Pete Corradino, a guide for the aforementioned Everglades safari and board member of the Society for Ethical Ecotourism (SEE), got in touch through this blog and wrote that his company is fully committed to preserving the Everglades. He also said that, even though SEE’s 2009 certification criteria is not yet available online, it will be in June 2010. At that time, anyone will be able to access it for self-assessment. Further, he’s offered to email me a copy. [EDIT: Corradino has apparently changed his mind!]

That’s doubly fantastic, and both Cinthia and I are very grateful that he has taken the time to talk to us about the Everglades Day Safari and SEE both in the comments section of the last post and via email, where we have continued our conversation.

As I pointed out to him, it would be useful for the safari website – and for the websites of all allegedly green companies – to detail its commitment to the environment and describe its certification, if any, to show why and how the company is genuinely eco/green/environmentally responsible and rule out any greenwashing.

At this time, the safari website provides very little data on its sustainability policy; there is no description of its efforts to preserve the Everglades, no criteria listed – nothing except a few vague phrases on the home page. Corradino said he’s now looking into updating the site to include the missing information on the company’s green initiatives.

Corradino was upset that Cinthia suspected his company was guilty of greenwashing – but without the appropriate information, how is one supposed to know that a company offers a truly eco-tour/lodge/etc.?

Being denied the necessary information, it is reasonable that people will respond to eco claims with skepticism, both because the term “eco” is often a cover for greenwashing and because the Everglades (in the case of the Everglades Day Safari) have been trampled on and polluted for decades.

To cement my point, here is a quote about the unreliability of the term “eco” that I noted in the post Fight greenwashing! (Wait, can we?) Pt. 2:

‘Already the word “eco” has lost all power and meaning,’ says Guyonne James, senior projects manager at Tourism Concern, a UK charity which campaigns against exploitation. ‘In Brazil, if a bed-and-breakfast has a back garden, they’ll call it an eco-lodge. There has been such a proliferation of claims and green labels that as a tourist you really have no idea what’s going on.’

So, companies, if you want us to learn about and believe your eco claims, be ready to make your environmental standards and certification process publicly available!

It’s not fair to expect us to give you a call or visit your premises when deciding on a tour/hotel/whatnot for our next adventure just because you don’t back up your eco claims online. If you’re selling a green product, it’s your job to prove it to consumers with all the documentation you’ve got to gain credibility, and to make it easy on us so we’re more likely to choose you over other companies. (Please note, also, that this move will also improve your reputation and banish any concerns of greenwashing!)

Until then, it is better for us all to be safe – and skeptical – than sorry by finding out when it’s too late that we’ve supported a greenwashing business.

See this post to find out about greenwashing and Fight greenwashing! (Wait, can we?) Pt. 1 here.

There are problems with environmental organizations or groups endorsing products and companies.

For one, consider that true green companies may not be able to afford certification from international organizations to avoid being suspected of greenwashing. That’s not fair.

Another issue is that sources like the deceptive Responsible Travel, “the world’s leading travel agent for responsible holidays,” is irresponsible in only listing companies that pay them for the privilege. Ahem, conflict of interest, ahem. This is not an organization that provides eco certification – it is a commercial travel agency. But by naming itself “Responsible Travel,” it easily misleads:

‘The issue I have is that a commercial travel agent has appropriated the name “responsible travel” and by so doing gives the appearance of being an official industry portal to find those kind of trips,’ says Roger Diski, founder of Rainbow Tours, a specialist African tour operator. ‘But they charge operators to be on the site, which means that only those who are prepared to pay them commission on sales are on there. Furthermore, monitoring of standards is rudimentary; much of what is on there has no particular claim to be responsible.’ (Emphasis mine.)

How can such businesses and groups be trusted to, for one, genuinely hunt for greenwashing in the eco industry and, two, truthfully report their findings?

Not to mention that even well-known certification organizations often fail – as you will find if you take the time to dig – to fully clear the companies they endorse of greenwashing despite their promises because it’s too costly and the logistics crazy complicated (and other reasons may apply).

Consider it: an organization/group/agency would have to send someone to the actual store/hotel/headquarters/etc. to check for a complete absence of greenwashing: whether the food grown in the premises is really organic, if the light bulbs used are energy efficient, if the walls were painted with non-toxic paint, how much PVC is used, if eco hotel employees educate guests and strongly request that they remain quiet during bird watching tours and other activities in the wild, how they dispose of their trash, where they get their drinking water from if the location is remote (a well? Is it trucked in?), and a zillion other items. It would be nearly impossible to verify.

And what exacerbates this dilemma is the lack of international, ecumenical, and consistent eco standards for what exactly comprises an “eco lodge,” a “green company,” and so on. These labels are up for grabs by all bidders, greenwashing and not, because nobody checks up on them and there are no formal punishments for the crime that is greenwashing.

It’s a dire state of affairs for the eco industry.

‘Already the word “eco” has lost all power and meaning,’ says Guyonne James, senior projects manager at Tourism Concern, a UK charity which campaigns against exploitation. ‘In Brazil, if a bed-and-breakfast has a back garden, they’ll call it an eco-lodge. There has been such a proliferation of claims and green labels that as a tourist you really have no idea what’s going on.’

So, the best thing we can do?

Keep our own eyes open and dig deep. That alone is more than most people will do, whether due to lack of time, resources, or interest. And the land is fertile for greenwashing, my friends.

So let’s just do our best, until we can do better.

Even simple questions can allow for the prompt crossing out of options on one’s list.

Baby steps are better than no steps.

In the next post, I will consider frequently cited environmental standards employed to avert greenwashing.

Stay tuned, fellow greenies!

You are an eco conscious individual and you want to take a trip. “Yay! So many eco-friendly options!” you joyfully think to yourself.

Wait, STOP!

Greenwashing is everywhere.

*Screams of terror*

But don’t be scared!

There is hope.

Our most powerful tool

The best thing we can do to out greenwashing is ask questions – to yourself and to the ostensibly green companies whose products and so on you are interested in. Every single question you have. Ask them until you drive people crazy (and then keep going)!

Some important issues to consider:

• What are the company’s environmental claims?
  • Are the claims vague? (Red flag! Probable greenwashing!)
  • Are they verifiable?
  • Do the company and its products/lodging/whatnot meet certain environmental leadership standards?
  • Which environmental organization’s standards does the company meet?
  • Is the environmental organization legit, like EcoLogo or Green Seal?
  • What does the environmental organization examine – sustainability, energy efficiency, evident respect toward local communities and culture, nature conservation, etc.?

• Can you get your hands on the company’s documented green standards and the environmental organization’s testing protocol(s)?

Unavailable documents are a red flag signaling massive greenwashing. And if you do acquire a copy of the documents, dissect them to ascertain whether the company meets the standards it purports to meet. The information should be clear, consistent, and provable.

• If no organization screened the company for greenwashing, who was in charge of developing the environmental standards and testing protocol(s), and how did they do it?
  • Were the standards and protocols developed via an open and transparent process?
  • Are records publicly available for review? (They better be!)

• Do the standards encompass energy efficiency, sustainability, environmental and social repercussions during the lifecycle of the product or building and running of the facility, conscientious disposal and waste water treatments, and other umbrella factors?
  • Is this demonstrable?

• What does the verification process consist of?
  • Is it self-certification? Self- certification and random audits? Independent third-party certification? Independent third-party certification with on-site audits?
  • Is this provable?

The questions that can be asked to detect greenwashing are practically interminable.

Can you come up with more?

Greenwashing (a.k.a. green whitewash or green sheen) is the act of appearing, or pretending to be, sustainable or environmentally friendly to cater to environmentally conscious consumers. “Eco” hotels, “green” companies and organizations, even “organic” products can dupe us through greenwashing.

These companies may not be green at all or may be only marginally green in their efforts, all the while marketing themselves as laudably sustainable and invested in the cause, or greenwashing. Companies that greenwash often spend more funds to market themselves as eco-friendly than on actually greening their practices.

What do they gain by lying to us? Why, a wider range of consumers and thus heftier profits.

I’ve blogged about companies and whatnot that are guilty of greenwashing: so-called eco hotels that, when you look into what they are actually doing to make themselves eco-friendly, fall substantially short. As we can see, greenwashing is huge in the ecotourism industry. Another culprit is the automobile industry: how can any cars be environmentally friendly? Come on, folks – cars pollute, and that’s the end of it. All car companies can do is come up with cars that pollute less than others.

Canadian environmental marketing firm TerraChoice came up with a study called “The Six Sins of Greenwashing” in November 2007. The study found that over 99% of 1,018 common consumer products – ranging from electronics to toiletries – randomly surveyed in North America were guilty of greenwashing by lying or misleading.

The six sins of greenwashing are:

• The Hidden Trade-Off – E.g. “energy-efficient” electronics that contain hazardous materials. 998 products and 57% of all environmental claims were guilty.

• No Proof: E.g. “Certified organic” shampoos lacking provable certification. 454 products and 26% of environmental claims were guilty.

• Vagueness: E.g. Products claiming to be “100% natural” when many naturally-occurring ingredients are dangerous, such as arsenic and formaldehyde. 196 products or 11% of environmental claims were guilty.

• Irrelevance: E.g. Products claiming to be CFC-free when – ahem – CFCs were banned 20 years ago! 78 products and 4% of environmental claims were guilty.

• Fibbing: E.g. Products falsely claiming to be certified by an internationally recognized environmental standard like EcoLogo or Energy Star. 10 products or less than 1% of environmental claims were guilty.

• Lesser of Two Evils: E.g. Organic cigarettes, “environmentally friendly” pesticides, or “clean” cars. 17 products or 1% of environmental claims were guilty.

TerraChoice added a seventh sin in April 2009:

• The Sin of Worshiping False Labels: When a product deceptively gives the impression through words or images that it is endorsed by a third-party.

Watch TerraChoice VP Scott Case talk about the sins of greenwashing:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh1Y06DGCs]

In this video, TerraChoice President Scott McDougall talks about the sins of greenwashing on Canada AM:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6hMB5vyQtQ]

So what the hell are we supposed to do now?

I’ll let you know in my next post!

Oy. I read that some hotels tout themselves as eco solely because they offer their guests the opportunity to not wash their laundry daily. Ridiculous? Indeed!

To help remedy the situation and separate the farce from the truth, there are now as many as 100 green travel certifications all over the world, all of which help potential guests learn whether a hotel’s eco claims are for real. Sixty of these are in Europe, and only 7 are global, including Green Globe and ECOTEL; some countries have their own particular certification program.

[Right now most certifications only apply to hotels and lodges, but increasingly others are cropping up to deal with tour operators, beaches, parks, golf courses (a green golf course?!), and boats.]

The certification measures health and safety standards (whether they are legally required or not), quality and service, and sustainability – which sometimes but not always considers the environmental and social impact of the hotel and its programs on the community.

Green Globe looks at the traditional tourism market. Its certifications reward the cutting down of electricity and water use. They do not set standards on performance (only intent – hello problem!). This one looks at the non-human environment, largely, as social and cultural issues are not addressed. (If you ask me, the environment entails all of us – are we not part of it? Is it not part of us?) P.S. Their user interface is not very intuitive. Good luck surfing their website!

So Green Globe focuses on intent as opposed to performance. Conversely, performance-based achievement certifications set clear environmental and social requirements, such as a specific percentage of local sourcing of employees or food.

ECOTEL is performance-based and more thorough than Green Globe. ECOTEL looks at five inspections:

• Environmental commitment
• Solid waste management
• Energy efficiency
• Water conservation
• Employee education and community involvement

Each of these 5 inspections has a 3-tiered Numerical Scoring System for the meeting of criteria. And all hotels have to satisfy ECOTEL’s primary criteria before even applying for the certification. Sweet. That tells me the certified hotels give a damn. Read more here.

See the ECOTEL-certified hotels here to plan ahead for your next trip!

Not many hotels – or even countries – are listed. Hopefully the eco certification industry will soon burgeon and make it easier for all of us to make ethical choices for our trips and vacations.

And I like STEP: Sustainable Travel International –

STEP is the world’s first and only global sustainable tourism eco-certification program offered by a non-profit organization. […] Due to its comprehensive nature, STEP was recognized as the most comprehensive of any sustainable tourism certification initiative in an independent research analysis commissioned by the United Nations Foundation, helping to establish STEP as the “Gold Standard” in sustainable tourism certification.

Although STEP is globally relevant, it is designed to address unique regional social, cultural, environmental and economic attributes.

STEP offers another advantage: because it is non-profit, it costs less to acquire its label – when you have to pay high prices for certification, it can get complicated no matter how green you already are. Especially if you’re just starting out or if you’re in Mexico, say, and the swine flu has kicked your business in the bum and left you struggling to stay afloat.

So to check out destinations certified by STEP, click here.

Enjoy!