Going green is the new black for big business. But how real is the climate-friendly revolution that's being advertised? Toyota reckons Mother Nature drives a Prius, Ford wants us to 'Join the Green Revolution', and McDonald's has painted its famous golden arches green. Facebook has even 'friended' Greenpeace. But are big brands and the celebrities endorsing them really as green as they claim? In Greenwash, in the tradition of Fast Food Nation and No Logo, Guy Pearse looks behind the corporate façade - and what he finds will startle you. Nothing is sacred and no one is safe from scrutiny in this exposé of carbon scams: not the Prius or the Nissan LEAF, not the World Wildlife Fund or Earth Hour, not Oprah or Leonardo DiCaprio. For consumers trying to shop the planet green, Greenwash is a wake-up call. It's also an entertaining and practical book that helps consumers to pick the truly green businesses from the greenwashers and to demand a higher environmental standard from all. 'Guy Pearse travels the sewers of misinformation to show us exactly how, from banks to airlines, there's a growth industry in green horseshit. But, after hosing himself off, Pearse also presents us with a far more thoughtful analysis than I've read in other exposés of greenwashing.' --Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved and the New York Times bestseller The Value of Nothing 'Before I read Greenwash I thought I could no longer be shocked by the skulduggery of the marketers. How wrong I was. Read Greenwash to be reminded why advertising is called the dark art and how marketing has become the most destructive force on the planet.' --Clive Hamilton, author of Affluenza and Requiem for a Species '[Greenwash] contains some brilliant exposés of capital scamming the unwary consumer, giving them a green hoodwink while continuing opposite practices elsewhere.' --Adelaide Review 'Guy Pearse's welcome book reveals the difficulty of judging the benefits and real environmental costs of the way we live.' --David Suzuki 'If you want to know how to pick the true greenies from the fakers, this book is for you.' --Green Lifestyle

The message that the environment is in peril has filtered from environmental groups to society's consciousness to shopping trolleys. The green consumer movement is everywhere, yet few are asking whether this is actually any better for the planet. By examining the major economic sectors of society, Green Washed explains that consumers cannot simply buy their way to sustainability. A new and unique take on green consumption, readers are shown that buying better is only the first step towards obtaining a truly green lifestyle.

Examines the underlying symbolic dimensions of corporate environmentalism, helping readers to separate useful environmental information from empty corporate spin.

Going green is the new black for big business. But how real is the climate-friendly revolution that’s being advertised? Toyota would like us to think that Mother Nature drives a Prius, Ford wants us to “Join the Green Revolution,” and McDonald’s has painted its golden arches green. Facebook has even “friended” Greenpeace. All across the globe big corporations are spending big bucks trying to convince us that their policies, actions, and products are earth friendly. But are big brands and the celebrities endorsing them really as green as they claim? In The Greenwash Effect, Guy Pearse looks behind the corporate façade in the tradition of Fast Food Nation and No Logo—and what he finds will startle you. Nothing is sacred and no one is safe from scrutiny: not the World Wildlife Fund or Earth Hour, not Apple or Google, not Oprah or Leonardo DiCaprio. The Greenwash Effect is an entertaining and practical book that helps consumers to pick the truly green businesses from the greenwashers and to demand a higher environmental standard from all.

Cleaning up Greenwash characterizes corporate environmental crime as an inevitable consequence of neoliberal markets and contemporary consumer culture and identifies that traditional criminal justice responses may be inadequate to deal with contemporary environmental harms.

From green frogs and blue angels to white bunnies, modern consumers are confronted by a growing array of colorful eco-labels on everything from coffee to computers. When eco-labels are credible, they can lead to dramatic change in environmental practices broadly and quickly by leveraging the purchasing power of corporate clients (e.g., Walmart and McDonalds) to influence global supply chains. But the credibility of such labels is highly variable; and despite the existence of established practices for eco-labeling, many labels remain little more than superficial exercises in "greenwash." How can consumers separate greenwash from genuine attempts to address environmental challenges? Beyond Greenwash addresses this question by systematically investigating the credibility of transnational eco-labeling organizations across countries and commercial sectors. Using an innovative proxy measure for credibility that examines adherence to established best practices, Hamish van der Ven proposes a novel theory of rigor and credibility in transnational eco-labeling that upends conventional wisdom. He argues that the credibility of an eco-label does not depend on who creates or manages it-whether a government, industry association, professional standard setter, or environmental NGO. Rather, it depends on which types of businesses use the label. More specifically, eco-labeling organizations that target bigger, consumer-facing retailers tend to create credible eco-labels out of a desire to insulate their clients from critical scrutiny and gain acceptance in new markets. This theory challenges the conventional wisdom that only governments or environmental NGOs can create meaningful environmental governance and suggests that who is being governed matters as much, if not more, than who is doing the governing.