{"id":445,"date":"2018-04-14T23:45:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-14T23:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/?p=445"},"modified":"2018-04-14T23:58:19","modified_gmt":"2018-04-14T23:58:19","slug":"the-flaws-of-buying-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/2018\/04\/14\/the-flaws-of-buying-green\/","title":{"rendered":"The Flaws of Buying “Green”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image From: http:\/\/www.professionalcleaning.org\/eco-cleaning\/environmental-claims<\/p><\/div>\n

Buying products marked \u201cgreen\u201d or \u201ceco-friendly\u201d may promote our culture\u2019s emphasis on environmental sustainability, ensuring demands placed on the environment do not surpass what it is capable of fulfilling for present and future generations, as a value. However, the result of purchasing based on environmental claims is often the opposite of an individual\u2019s intent.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Image From: http:\/\/www.sustainableisgood.com\/blog\/2007\/08\/poland-spring-o.html<\/p><\/div>\n

Environmental claims for products are not actively regulated, instead the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) produced the \u201cGreen Guidelines\u201d which designates what claims are appropriate for, versus deceptive to, the consumer. The FTC has the power to issue warnings and fines to companies who violate the guidelines, yet these guidelines are not strong and only deal with how the product\u2019s background is presented, rather than setting expectations for production.\u00a0<\/span>Thus, companies can work within the guidelines to advertise goods as environmentally superior, even when their production process is not favorable to the planet. For instance, Nestle uses claims about recycling and reduction to make their plastic water bottles seem environmentally-conscious; in reality, using disposable plastic bottles is harmful and reusable water bottles are the more sustainable option.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the case shoppers identify the truly low-impact products, they often negate the potential good of that decision by purchasing or employing more than necessary because they feel better about the previous good decision. This tendency is known as Jevon\u2019s Paradox or \u201cmoral licensing.\u201d I understand this in terms of my tendency to give into cravings on days I exercise: \u201cI ran today, so it\u2019s okay to have this donut.\u201d A Swedish study in 2013 found people were not only more willing to pay more for a coffee labeled as \u201ceco-friendly,\u201d but also more inclined to think it tastes better and purchase more.<\/span> Similarly, Prius drivers drive more than non-hybrid vehicle users because the Prius is advertised as less impactful on the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image From: http:\/\/www.greendirectory.co.nz\/Packaging\/Eco-Friendly-Packaging<\/p><\/div>\n

In summary, due to consumer propensity for moral licensing and the FTC\u2019s lackadaisical guidelines, consumption of proclaimed \u201cenvironmentally-conscious\u201d goods does not bring us closer to a healthy planet, but can set us back. <\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. \u201cGreen Guides.\u201d <\/span>Federal Trade Commission<\/span><\/i>, Federal Trade Commission, 12 Dec. 2017, www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/media-resources\/truth-advertising\/green-guides.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    2.\u00a0Hedblom, Daniel, et al. \u201cWho Needs Cream and Sugar When There Is Eco-Labeling? Taste and Willingness to Pay for \u00e2\u0080\u009cEco-Friendly\u00e2\u0080\u009d Coffee.\u201d <\/span>PLoS ONE<\/span><\/i>, vol. 8, no. 12, 2013. <\/span>National Institution of Health<\/span><\/i>, doi:10.1371\/journal.pone.0080719.<\/span><\/p>\n

    3.\u00a0Dubeau, Matthieu. \u201cLinking Person, Planet, and Politics.\u201d POL S\/ENVIR 385. Lecture #4, 7 Apr. 2018, Seattle, University of Washington, Seattle.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Buying products marked \u201cgreen\u201d or \u201ceco-friendly\u201d may promote our culture\u2019s emphasis on environmental sustainability, ensuring demands placed on the environment do not surpass what it is capable of fulfilling for present and future generations, as a value. However, the result of purchasing based on environmental claims is often the opposite of an individual\u2019s intent. Environmental claims for products are not… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industrialized-food","category-other"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":502,"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions\/502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.washington.edu\/ps385s18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}