The Seven Sins Of Greenwashing

"The sins described don't seem like sins at all, even if one accepts the religious significance of the term. But they spring from thoughts and behaviors that, overtime become habits."(Benton TSDSOS) For example, Institutions create a mindset for students that push them to take the path of least resistance; and instead of using self denial and self esteem they choose self indulgence. These choices and sins that they indulge in have consequences that can create more unhappiness and difficult paths later down the road. The seven sins that are of topic are, the Sloth, Greed, Anger, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, and finally Pride. These seven sins are the troubling behavior that students succumb to.

Sin is mentioned throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact, there are six different Greek words within the New Testament alone that talk about sin. (Etzel & Gutierrez, 2014). However, although the Bible is clear that mankind is born with a sinful nature, there are different types of sin. Furthermore, the authenticity of the sinner dictates the way in which these sins are not only repented, but whether forgiven. My goal is to not only identify these sins types, but to divulge their relevance and acquire a better understanding.

Greed, Sloth, pride, lust, wrath, envy, and gluttony the seven deadly core sins. All of these sins are sadly sometimes a common occurrence in the human population. Day by day these occur all over the world in every corner of this earth these sins reside. This story will go over three things about the whole sinology, and those are how they are used in real life, the damaging effects that they cause, and its possible effects on society as a whole. This story will also be 7 paragraphs long not including this paragraph right here and at the end.

Furthermore, the second sin is “bad example” which is self-explanatory. This occurs when the example used to validate an argument is insufficient or irrelevant. For instance, it is seen in a notorious fallacy called hasty generalization when a small number of examples are used to imply something exaggerated. Beyond that, the last fallacy that corresponds to bad proof is “ignorance as proof”. This implies that because there are no examples, something cannot exist. The fifth deadly sin, “false choice”, is the only sin that corresponds to Heinrichs second method of spotting a fallacy: wrong number of choices. This fallacy is used in abundance in politics and for commercial purposes because it limits the audience to only a few choices when in reality, more exist. For instance, the “many questions” fallacy can be categorized as a false choice because it joins two or more questions into one, giving an insufficient amount of choices. Finally, the fourth, sixth, and seventh sin can be found utilizing Heinrichs’ third method of discovering fallacies: disconnect between proof and conclusion. Tautology, the fourth sin, is seen

Likewise, the green energy hoax could be due to companies wanting to take advantage of consumers by informing them of products that will help promote change to the environment when in actuality their claims are not living up to the product offered is capable of doing. However, many want to imply that their products serve a purpose to help the environment when they are actually hurting consumers pockets and causing more anxiety with the products that should be ensuring safety, benefit, and

Organic. Cage Free. Free Range. Grass Fed. Non-GMO. These descriptors are used in grocery stores across the United States of America and are a major component of guiding consumers through their purchasing decisions. However, since these labels usually appear without any description, how do consumers know what do these labels really mean? Furthermore, how do food producers and their governing organizations decide when a label can be applied? The meat, egg, and produce industry are all affected by this nomenclature system. Therefore, the everyday consumer comes in contact with these labels every time they make a food purchase and often rely on them to help them make the healthier and more ethical food choice. But are these labels really denoting ethical sourcing, improved health benefits, and how strictly is the labeling regulated?

People are exposed to such chemicals day in and day out, whether it is in the air or touching skin, but not until recently have people consumed and digested them. Just by looking at a list of ingredients, one can see the vast amount of unknown compounds compiled on a food label. These chemicals have the sole purpose of preserving the flavor and making the product last longer. Some may argue that these chemicals are helpful from a convenience point of view, and increases shelf life, but studies have shown that these chemicals are linked to cancer and other disease, which is a big price to pay for small reward. For example, according to the World Health Organization, sodium nitrite, a preservative in processed meats, is linked to an 18 percent increase chance in colorectal cancer, . Many would wonder why no regulations have been passed to stop production of food such as this. They have been, just not in the United States. In America, the aspect on synthetics food additives is much different from countries in Europe, as Cindy Morgan explains. “In Europe, you have to prove your food additive is safe before it put on the shelves, but in America, things are assumed safe unless proven otherwise.” States have tried to pass laws mandating the labeling of synthetic ingredients, but large food corporations bully the government out of doing such a thing. For example, in 2013, Connecticut

“Sin”, in turn is defined as “an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law” .

In addition to the Seven Sins of greenwashing, another advertising method within the corporate green campaign is the usage of color, images of nature and branding. According to Meister and Japp, “Using nature merely as a back drop – whether in the form of wild animals, mountain vistas, or sparkling rivers—is the most common use of the natural world in advertisements” (142). Soft, natural colors, such as greens, browns, blues, and yellows are used to relax the consumer’s mind. They are pleasing to the eye. Use of plants, flowers, and landscapes are also used on advertisements and on product packaging. This can deceive the consumer’s perceived representation of the product.

When we think or the term ‘organic’ in reference to produce we think of food grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers. We also think of animals that produce meat and dairy products that don’t take growth hormones, antibiotics, or corn but rather fed their natural food like forage/grass in the case of ruminants. Upon Michael Pollan’s trip to Whole Foods, a well-known supermarket known for its organic products, he stumbles upon the labels of milk and compares each brand to one another. The common denominator between all the labels is that all of the companies falsely advertise their products and drown their labels with words such as “certified organic,” humanely raised,” or “free range.” Big organic companies

The third sin is Solipsism. Solipsism is basically you treat others based on how they treat you. You don’t turn the other cheek, in other words.

Going green is a phrase that has swept America back and forth multiple times over the past few decades. No matter where one is to go, a person is likely to see something that contributes to the environment. This could be anything from community cleanup programs, to designated bins for trash and recyclables. Even the way buildings are made contribute to the topic of going green. One reason why industries take up the theme of going green is to the fact that there is money to be made. Minimizing waste in construction and manufacturing help companies to save money.

Social: Deceiving the public like Volkswagen (VW) did not only diminishes the company’s reputation, but also public trust in the business, and therefore increases consumers’ belief in ‘greenwashing’ or ‘greenfrauding’ (3p Contributor, 2016). As a result, consumers will start supporting a more ‘trustworthy’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ car manufacturers.

In today’s society, we are always finding ourselves following the newest fads. As we come across the latest hype such as organic products, greenwashing has become a serious fraud of many companies relating to whether product’s labels are misleading. Greenwashing is “the creation of a false idea of environmental awareness in hopes of creating an increased profit from consumption (Bell 2012).” Many companies have joined the production of implying “organic” products in hopes of luring in more customers; however, these products are being proven to be false advertisement. This false advertisement is a representation of the theory of production as companies are using misleading labels to make a profit for themselves, even if the environment pays

The first point in the article is that if there is the word organic or fair trade on the product it affects how healthy a person perceives the product to be. I agree with this point because I am one of those people, I am more likely to buy a product if it has organic or fair trade on the label because I assume it is healthier. When I see this on the label I think low fat or low calories. However, there are other factors that can influence the likely hood of a person choosing a product and thinking it is healthy, like emoticons. A person is more likely to avoid a product if there is a unhappy face emoticon on the label(Vasiljevic et al. 7). The second point is that people are more likely to think a product has higher calories or lower calories depending on whether a company treats its employees fairly or not. To me this point depends on how informed the person is about products and companies. Many people are not really informed about how companies treat their employees, especially when companies only allow the public to see what they want us to see. The study was only conducted on people who had strong ethical food values but what about people who do not have strong ethical food values. That is why labels are so important it determines if a person perceives the product as unhealthy or healthy, but as discussed in class even food labels can be