| I've been noticing greenwashing everywhere lately and wrote about it here: https://olek.works/notes/greenwashing-everywhere/ A few examples that stood out to me: Online grocery stores that proudly email receipts instead of printing them—but force you to buy new plastic/paper bags with every delivery instead of offering reusable crates for regular customers. "100% recycled plastic" bottles that conveniently don't mention plastic degrades with each recycling cycle and ends up in landfills after a few rounds anyway. Budget airlines that ask passengers to dispose of trash to "help the environment"—while selling everything in single-use plastic and generating dozens of enormous garbage bags per flight. They've just outsourced the guilt. Once you start seeing it, it's everywhere. What greenwashing examples have you noticed? I'm collecting them to build a library in the post. Share yours—the more specific, the better. Bonus points for the subtle ones that most people miss. |
The recycling symbol was invented by plastic manufacturers specifically because they were facing public criticism for producing plastic trash. Plastic is not recyclable in an economically viable way. Once China stopped accepting plastic”imports of garbage” there was no place that accepted it. Because it doesn’t actually work well enough to bother.
Glass is chemically recyclable. But the raw material is so cheap it’s not economical viable.
The carbon footprint was invented by fossil fuel companies to shift blame to the consumer. “That coal plant I operate is your fault because you use the power” neatly shits the blame away from people who build and operate coal plants (and resist efforts to de carbonize the grid)