Comments on: A Green Legacy?

By: Jensen

Jensen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:33:05 +0000

Like you said, in many ways it’s about PR. Companies that greenwash instead of changing core practices are rolling the dice on whether they will be found out. If the public swallows their pitch, they’ve saved money. If the public sniffs out their deceptiveness, they will lose business. An example of a company being ruined by failing to be honest with the public about their “green” practices is Sigg, the water bottle company. They advertised themselves as the epitome of green. Yet, they didn’t disclose that their bottles had traces of BPA (the precise chemical people were buying Siggs to avoid) until they were forced to. Now, their reputation has been ruined, and I would not be surprised to see them go out of business in the near future. If they had (A) been honest about the not-so-green parts of their business or (B) earnestly tried to clean up that part of their business, they would be in a much better situation now.

By: Marguerite Granat

Marguerite Granat — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:53:22 +0000

Jensen, although I'm not sure about the exact criteria that was used to rank the companies on the 2009 Green Rankings I know that the reason they ranked high was due to the loans made to green businesses. The point I'm trying to make is that there are companies that do a great job at branding themselves green when its just green washing and some do everything right without effectively communicating these accomplishments with their stakeholders. I think that Wells Fargo has done a good job at making significant impacts through those investments as well as communicating these accomplishments to their customers. You seem to be in tune with green business. Are people making decisions about supporting an organization based on whether the company has green practices in place?

By: Jensen

Jensen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:01:42 +0000

There is a distinct difference between paperless banking “green” solutions and financing green companies, and the two should not be confused. The paperless banking is a minor (but positive) impact of an ancillary banking process. Using a bank’s power to finance green businesses is something at the core of the banking industry and is a much more significant (and laudible) step. Lumping small, less significant ancillary actions with more fundamental, core-business related actions does a disservice to those who take the larger actions.

By: MeghanMBiro

MeghanMBiro — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:41:43 +0000

@MGRecruiter Crank that #woodstove up – look forward to delving into your latest thoughts. Projects beckon = to be continued…

By: MGRecruiter

MGRecruiter — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:14:59 +0000

@MeghanMBiro enjoying the #woodstove slush and snow all over the place. Good luck with your project!