CES 2009: Greenwashing

If I hear one more company at CES talk about how committed they are to the environment I think I'm going to scream.

Everyone's at it. Panasonic even printed part of their press kit on paper that had seeds embedded in it so that we could plant them later.

The thing is it's all rubbish. All this supposed 'green' focus is nothing more than an attempt to sell us products. What these companies have recognised is that consumers want to buy green products so that they can feel better about themselves.

I'm willing to bet some of these companies would cheerfully club seals or burn rainforest if people liked the idea and it got them more sales.

With businesses the hypocrisy is even more acute. If an IT director suggested buying a product because it was environmentally friendly he'd be looking for a new job very quickly. But if he says they save power and will cost less to recycle then s/he's golden.

Still, never let a good marketing slogan pass unquoted. But by the end of the show the only way I'm going to look forward to meeting a green businessman is if there's a high powered rifle, a postal tower and a bad Monday involved.