The fad of going green

The idea of going green is catching on in a big way with consumers, local organizations, cities, governments and corporations. Commercials on TV advertise how green and progressive a company is, even a car company like Chevy that has had big trucks with low fuel efficiency in the past. Being green is in. And everybody wants to be in.

But is it good that these corporations are going green?

What are the consequences of a fad surrounding the green concept? Are these companies genuinely concerned about the environment, or is it just a façade to bring in customers? When companies like Wal-Mart announce a sustainability line and organic products, there is reason to be skeptical about the true benefits of this green frenzy.

Consumers are increasingly flocking to environmentally friendly products and organic foods. As the concern over climate change increases, recycling and environmentalism have become important. R.E.I. now sells recycled fleece clothing. Some park benches are made of recycled products. Antique shops sell local products to promote the low transport costs and low pollution the products yield. Organic foods are seen as healthier for both the body and the soil, and more humane for animals. Cities such as San Francisco have banned bottled water at city departments and events to encourage the use of tap water, which has a lower transport cost.

Recently, Wal-Mart has announced it will be providing consumers with a wide selection of consumer foods. Organic foods typically cost more than mass-produced products, but Wal-Mart also announced that it will provide organic food at only a 10 percent premium.

The implications are of concern. Organic foods are sold at a higher premium because the product emphasizes a move away from mass production, which costs more in monetary terms, but the payoff is less costly to the soil, health and taxpayers. Less invasive fertilizers are used, which better prevent risks such as diabetes and obesity; they do not rely on subsidies to conventional commodity producers.

The idea of Wal-Mart and organic foods isn’t very compatible. When Wal-Mart announces its intent to sell organic foods at only a 10 percent premium in price, it then will actively seek out a producer of organic foods that is also mass-producing. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, writes on his New York Times blog, “To say you can sell organic food for 10 percent above the price at which you sell irresponsibly priced food suggests you don’t really get it — that you plan to bring the same principles of industrial ‘efficiency’ and ‘economies of scale’ to a system of food production that was supposed to mimic the logic of nature rather than that of the factory.”

Companies are frequently not being green to be noble. “The strategies that are being ... implemented by some of the leading-edge companies are done to maximize profits and to mitigate risk,” said Fred Wellington, a senior financial analyst for the environmental group World Resources Institute.

However, as corporations are actively pursuing a green model, these interests sometimes align not only with an intent to generate revenue for the company but also with an intent to benefit the environment. Corporations gain from being green because their reputation to the consumer looks good, but also because the move to become green also reduces energy consumption within the company.

For example, Dupont set a goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by the year 2000, and it received a reduction of 72 percent by 2004, said Gwen Ruta of the Environmental Defense Fund. “They avoided a cost of more than $3 billion.” By cutting back on energy consumption, the green model saved Dupont money in energy bills as well as cutting back on its use of resources.

With the planet at stake, as consumers, it is time to turn a more critical eye toward the “greening” of corporations.

It is time to become more utilitarian about the costs and benefits of the claims of companies and other entities being green, because ultimately, whether for monetary value or for virtue, what matters is that the results of the green labels are indeed green.