Over spring break my friends and I were lucky enough to spend a couple days in a cabin in Sevierville, Tennessee. Thankfully our cabin was just a short drive from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which we ventured into multiple times. Unfortunately, most trails were closed due to damage from wild fires. While in the Sugarland visitors center near Gatlinburg, we found a lot of exhibits highlighting the wildlife found in the forest. Another exhibit was dedicated solely to climate change and how it impacts the forest. More specifically, how ozone levels influence humans, plants, and foliage throughout the forest. As shown in the image below, ozone is harmful at ground level, and can increase as the elevation rises. Ozone is three oxygen atoms with one double bond and one single bond. Ozone forms naturally in the atmosphere which is necessary for life on the planet. However, ozone can form in the troposphere (lowest section of the atmosphere, ground level to about 6 miles up) by reacting with oxides of nitrogen. The National Park Service made it a point to publish that many of the pollutants which causes ozone levels to rise is a result to many human activities (e.g. industry, transportation, etc.). The display also featured a screen which shows the park’s last measured ozone level in parts per billion (ppb) over the past 8 hours. The day we visited the park had an ozone level of 35 ppb, well within the healthy limit for humans to breathe. Breathing ozone causes humans to experience chest pain, coughing/wheezing, and inflammation of the throat. Ozone can also cause lung tissue to become less effective, and therefore causes the lungs to become less efficient. Reducing ozone levels is critical so future generations can continue to enjoy the beauty The Great Smoky Mountains has to offer.

Recently in class, we discussed the topic of greenwashing.  Before our class lecture, I was not familiar with the topic of greenwashing whatsoever.  After learning what greenwashing is all about, I am shocked.  I am one of those people who naturally just believes a lot of what I read and I know that if I was walking down the aisles of a store and saw the word “green” on a product I would probably just believe it.  I definitely won’t do that anymore from here on out.

For this blog post, I decided to analyze Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner.  After reviewing the product on the Simple Green’s website, I would think that the product was safe to use.  Some of the positives of the product were that it was a safer cleaner and degreaser, was non-toxic with a biodegradable formula, and it was a powerful all-purpose cleaning.  But when Simple Green says that their product is “safer,” what do they mean?

This product may be “safer” but is it safe?  One problem that Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can lead to is the damage of red blood cells.  The product also is a possible human carcinogen and is banned in supplies that are certified by Green Seal or EcoLogo.  Along with these hazardous problems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “disinfectant products cannot make green claims because they contain registered pesticides.”

Simple Green’s All-Purpose cleaner isn’t all bad if you actually read all of the instructions, but the product has definitely been greenwashed quite a bit and could fool most shoppers walking through the store.  If diluted properly before use, the cleaner is safer and less of a threat.

http://simplegreen.com/

http://www.ewg.org/research/greener-school-cleaning-supplies/greenwashing

Like a lot of my classmates, I had never heard of greenwashing before Thursday. As I began to research for this post, one of the things that stuck out most to me was the greenwashing of bottled water. To me, when I think of plastic bottles, “green” is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, companies are actually claiming that their water bottles are more environmentally friendly. According to Nestle – which produces Nestle Pure Life, Perrier, Poland Spring, and S. Pellegrino –  “bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world.” Obviously, this is not the case. The average plastic bottle takes 450 years to decompose. These bottles also require two non-renewable materials, oil and natural gas. People may claim that this plastic is ok because it’s recyclable, right? Wrong. Though of course, these bottles are recyclable, it is said that almost 60% of plastic bottles end up in the landfill, contributing to the large global amount of trash and plastic pollution. The recycling of plastics is also not as easy as they make it sound because it can never be fully decomposed. Oftentimes, this plastic loses much of its properties and quality when being recycled. Companies, such as Arrowhead, promote words such as “eco-friendly” with new “eco-shapes.” These describe their use of “less plastic,” which may seem great but it’s still harmful to our environment, not only in the production but in what happens after we are done with them.

It’s incredible to me that people can claim that they are “green” and “eco-friendly” when they have no evidence to back up these claims and are often doing more harm than good. This can be seen everywhere and it’s hard to know what is actually eco-friendly or even slightly less bad.

Many companies spend more time and money on advertising their products than worrying about the quality of the product itself. These companies advertise and market their products as being sustainable, when in actuality, they are not utilizing business practices that benefit the environment.

For this blog post, I chose to write about a product that I used for way too many years as a child. I used it because my mom would buy it for herself and me. I assume she bought this product because of its good pricing and advertisement of being “environmentally sound and natural.”

The company exclaims that their products are a good choice for the environment and the consumers hair. On their products, such as the shampoo and conditioner, they claim that it’s “all natural.” After reading online through many researchers’ papers on the topic, they all come to the conclusion that these claims are false. There are many unnatural chemicals in the shampoo and conditioner, such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Propylene Glycol. There are also known carcinogens in the products that are not found on the ingredients that are labeled on the back of the products.  Certain chemicals react when in the bottle and form a new compound after being mixed together, forming carcinogens.  People experience side effects from these unnatural products all the time. Health concerns that are related to the chemicals can include skin irritation (the most common), cancer, and organ toxicity.

After researching herbal essence products and looking into their website, it is alarming to know that they advertise these seeming healthy items. I stopped using herbal essence a few years ago because my skin started to become exceedingly irritated. My mom took me to the family doctor and we figured out that it was my shampoo and conditioner (created by Herbal Essence) causing the irritation. After that, my family and I started to look  more into the products we were buying. My mom even began to make her own laundry detergent.

Many companies greenwash their products to make themselves seem more desirable and to gain short term financial benefits. The consumer needs to become aware that companies are doing this. Many companies do not want to actually go through the transition of becoming environmentally friendly; therefore, companies like Herbal Essence, will just slap on a sticker and call it a day.

Abnormal weather patterns have caused exceptionally warm water in the Pacific ocean, and this is the causing factor for a series of torrential floods in Peru. It is thought that the warm water is causing another El Niño, and climatologists have called it a “coastal El Niño”. Peru is a mountainous country and is extremely susceptible to mudslides, and the flooding has caused catastrophe in both mountainous regions, such as the area around Machu Picchu, along with arid, desertous regions, such Lima. According to NOAA, the ocean is neither in El Niño or La Niña, however El Niño is expected to come as early as April. The president stated that there hasn’t been an event this bad since 30 years ago. So far, the death toll is at 72. The flooding has destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and over one hundred bridges. Water treatment systems have become clogged, resulting in restricted access to water in the capital. Crops all over the country are being destroyed, which will have a negative impact on the economy and the food supply. Many impoverished Peruvians live in slums, which have been completely washed away in many places, leaving thousands homeless. While the president insists that the flooding could not be avoided, the government has been criticized  for being unprepared for an event like this. Furthermore, citizens show concerns of not receiving help from the government in light of this awful catastrophe. It is estimated that the rain will continue for at least another month, leaving the country in a state of emergency. This event is just one example of how unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change will impact people all over the world.

Before being introduced to greenwashing in the previous class, I had no clue on what this subject related to. Greenwashing can be described as, any act performed by a company that deceives the consumer in believing that the environmental practices performed by the company does no harm to the environment in regards to their product or service. As you can imagine there has to be a lot of products and services that are harmful to the environment that we have no clue is being done. I did some researching trying to find a good example of greenwashing that effects the environment regardless of what the packaging says. The everyday product that I came across, that took part in greenwashing was the Raid Earth Blends Multi-bug Killer. The Raid Earth Blends Multi-bug killer claims to be “an alternative insect control solution that contains an insecticide derived from the chrysanthemum flower”. Raid uses common tactics to appeal to consumers, by using words like “earth” and by displaying the color of the can in all green, which promotes this product as being “natural” for the environment. Despite its naturally derived component, the label still manages to warn users to avoid contact with skin and clothes, and not to inhale the mist when spraying it. This is a good example of greenwashing because insecticides are kind of impossible to make “natural” because the sole purpose of it is supposed to be for killing plants. Some of the ingredients found in this Raid products includes: Isobutane, Propane, and Piperonyl butoxide. Though these ingredients aren’t a big hazard to the environment, they still have a significant harm to people, pets, some insects, and fish if exposed too much.

As a whole, it is clear most people aren’t aware greenwashing even exists. For these companies to stop greenwashing, more people have to start becoming aware of the products they are purchasing because they could have great effects on the environment.

The Volkswagen diesel scandal is not unknown news to anyone. It was widely publicized how the company was advertising its low emission diesel cars, only to find out that 11 million of its engines had been purposefully tampered with by engineers to trick the emissions tests. The company had spent $77 million in America alone advertising the “clean” engines, all while knowing that they were outright lying to potential customers. I believe that is why this example of greenwashing is so incredible to me. Greenwashing is the practice of making something seem to be more environmentally friendly than it actually is. For most companies that take part in greenwashing, this usually means exaggerating the environmental benefits of a certain product. However, the fact that Volkswagen sat down and hired multiple engineers with the sole goal of creating a piece of software that would trick the emission test, fascinates and disgusts me.

I know greenwashing has been around ever since the green craze has started but I believe that the scandal with VW was the first time people felt deceived to that extreme of a degree, all the way to the point of banding together for a massive class-action law suit. I think that after the VW scandal, people became more aware of greenwashing and how merely a label or a slogan was no guarantee that the product or practices were actually environmentally beneficial. VW is still feeling the sting of being caught. They are dealing with law suits from all angles, because it was not only the consumers that felt lied to, but also the shareholders of the company. Lots are full of VW cars that will not be bought and it poses a real problem for the company. The scandal came as a shock to people also because of the fact that it was VW in particular that got caught with this deceit. Germany has worked hard to establish itself as a very green and responsible country that genuinely cares about the environment. If Volkswagen, a very iconic German company that has usually always been in good standing with consumers, is undertaking these practices, who is to say what other companies are taking part in similar practices all over the world. It creates an environment of suspicion but I believe that suspicion is the only way to ensure that companies work towards making what they advertise true. Once people find out that they were lied to, companies may have to deal with the same problems that VW is still facing to this day, and no company with dreams of being successful in the long run would willingly put themselves through that.

Over the past ten years growing rates of bee mortality has been on the rise. Researchers have done various studies attempting to draw correlations to bee mortality. One variable found was the increasing usage of pesticides for crop production. Since there has been such a dramatic population growth,  crop production increased as well. In order to waste no time in producing these crops, farmers spray pesticides to sustain crop health and keep pests off of them such as wasps, or flies. While doing so, one of the most important factors that helps contribute to pollination, the bee is negatively effected.

The bee can be exposed to pesticides in two ways , either directly or indirectly. One example of direct exposure being direct spray onto the crop; and indirect exposure being pesticide residue found in bee nectar. In both exposures, the bee has been shown to be equally harmed. The effects of these pesticides have shown to suppress bee immunity, increase the spread of bee diseases, weaken bee reproduction abilities, and in many cases, death.

Organic farming has proved to be very beneficial in sustaining bee communities. Within organic farming, farmers refrain from using synthetic, harmful products that in return help the bee community. In this community, bees are able to thrive from a natural environment. From large scale organic farming to even smaller scale organic farming done within someone’s backyard, anything proves to be beneficial in helping the bees. Also, bee conservation programs have recently become established to sustain bee habitats and communities while people are in constant close watch over the bees ensuring safety and protection from synthetic, harmful chemicals.

Still there is much more that is needed to be done. More education on this topic needs to be spread to the public, more funding from government needs to be established, as well as more bee conservation groups need to be formed. If nothing is done to stop the declining numbers of bees, soon enough bees will face total extinction for the generations to come.  The bee is the number one pollinator around the world, for various plants and crops, without the bee communities we will not be able to live and thrive in our world.

When we first started discussing greenwashing in class it really peaked my interest, due to the fact that I consider myself to be environmentally conscious when I see products advertised as “natural” or “green” it does tend to peak my interest. And that is the whole point, it’s supposed to appeal to this increasingly growing environmental movement that a lot of people care about. But is it all marketing, and what do these sustainable buzz words really mean?

While I do notice this type of marketing often in food packaging, I also tend to see them in the beauty industry. I decided to look into this a little deeper, specifically in shampoo and conditioner. When looking into the marketing of these products they all tend to describe “organic minerals and vitamins” that will save your hair. In particular Herbal Essences advertises “a truly organic experience”, so i decided to figure out how organic it really is. Turns out, not very, considering lauryl sulfate, propylene glycol and D&C red no. 33, and 1,4-Dioxane aren’t organic. Not only are these chemicals are dyes not eco friendly, they may be harmful to public health. 1,4-Dioxane is a carcinogen linked to organ toxicity and is in as many as 22% of cosmetic products, and despite this it is often not found on labels. The health concerns include cancer, organ-system toxicity and irritation.

Learning this information really shocked me. Companies are making millions of dollars making claims of being natural and good for the environment, when for some of these products that could not be further from the truth. Doing this research was a learning experience for me, that as a consumer one must look deeper into the products they choose to support. Consumers have all the power, and if people decide to put their money into companies that are truly eco friendly, then the big companies will follow.