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The Seven Sins Of Greenwashing

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Olyvia Poelvoorde
Homework #2

On occasion, companies print labels on their products that are ambiguous to the environmental practices of the company; this is called Greenwashing. The authors of “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing” not only claims that there are seven sins that go hand in hand with greenwashing, but also breaks them down and explains them simply. Two of these seven sins stuck out to me the most. The Sin of Vagueness which is defined by the authors as being “committed by every claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real meaning is likely to be misunderstood by the customer.”1 Certain product company 's use labels that claim their products as 'All Natural ', and 'Eco-friendly ' However, claiming a product is all natural does not always mean that it is green or safe to use. A few examples of all natural ingredients: Arseic, Uranium, Mercury and Formaldehyde.2 The second sin that bothered me most was the final sin: The Sin of Worshiping False Labels. This is explained as being “...through either words or images, gives the impression of a third-party endorsement where no such endorsement exists; fake labels.”3 My first example is from Canada, where a paper towel company blatantly makes a statement on their packaging that claims “This product fights global warming.” This is also an example of vagueness because it doesn 't directly specify exactly how it fights global warming. The last example of fake labeling happens both in Canada and the United

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