When does it become too much? “It is not my problem” stated by the millions of those in Generation X, the age group of 35-55 who lead the corporate world. It’s not their problem; it’s our problem as a whole. The environment is only becoming worse and the increased amount of Greenwashing by the older generations and increased consumption by our generation escalates it. Our generation and the future generation who precede us are the ones who’re affected by the careless and greedy decisions that the corporate world makes. The focus of the upper tier of the business world is to generate as much profit as possible with a disregard to the environment. The advertisements of Cenovus, Exxon, and many other large oil companies prove that their goal is …show more content…
The term “Greenwashing” as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is, “The creation or propagation of an unfounded or misleading environmentalist image.” (Discover) Greenwashing is essentially propaganda created by the large businesses that show scarce yet positive aspects in their advertisements. Cenovus is a prime example of a company that abuses Canada’s once exquisite forests. In their ad, “Canadian ideas at work,” the company shows an oversimplified extraction process in the middle of a picturesque forest with upbeat and positive music in the background. Exxon and Walmart both take similar approaches towards showing their “environmental friendliness” by launching clean-up and …show more content…
The use of more eco-friendly alternatives and safer practices is the best way even if it might cost the company more. The environment isn’t ours to harm, it’s ours to protect and as a society if we aren’t shown the real effect of what these companies are doing we won’t take action against them. The Minister in Alberta took note to Cenovus’s destructive ways and denied their plans for expansion, thus saving multiple different endangered species. The stunning mountains and lush forests are just a façade put up by Cenovus to show how eco-friendly they really are, when in reality they’re destroying the forests and polluting the ecosystem. Consumers can change their behaviors and we can take action against the big name companies who spend a little percentage of their revenue towards sustainability projects that have no real effect. We shouldn’t continue to buy from and support the companies that feed us endless lies about the truth that’s really going on behind the
This quote shows how the youth of today have been more at stake than the grownups of today. Another example is “Young people are more receptive to new ideas, not having yet invested heavily in the status quo and therefore being able to see with greater clarity”. This quote is significant because it shows how today’s young and innocent people are the best candidates to save the environment because they do not already have their opinions in place. The young youth of today need to understand how important it is to keep our environment clean, to not pollute and to not think that they’re always right when they really aren’t “unsustainable and unnecessary waste and pollution” this shows how this type of pollution is extremely unnecessary and harmful to the
... middle of paper ... ... Just look at all the profits that Exxon makes in just one quarter. One could agree from my research it pays to be socially responsible! It was unfortunate for Exxon to have an oil spill, but they got past it, emerging as one of the worlds leading oil and natural gas producers in the world.
Green washing: The disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. In order for big companies to stay on top of the market today, they are forced to think of advertising strategies to help their public image and advertise their product. Over the years the system has become very complex and also very questionable. Companies are willing to lie, change their logo, and sometimes even their company name just to keep their name and image clean in front of the public just to make sure that they are making their money. Green washing helps this by advertising to the public that they are environmentally supportive and responsible. Most people that are into buying “green products” do not even realize that the company they are buying from is green washing in some sort of way just so that they can attract attention to the public. Green washing companies may advertise that they are “eco-friendly”, but when it comes down to it, the facts hidden behind the curtains beg to differ. Just like in the green washing video we watched in class, the companies may look great compared to the worst companies, but that does not mean what they are doing is still productive for our environmental movement. One company that has been notorious for their green washing efforts for the past couple of decades is the Oil/energy company: British Petroleum a.k.a. Beyond Petroleum. They are one of the world’s largest leading oil companies who has also becoming a large energy supplying company with presence in petrochemicals, gas, and solar divisions. Over the past twenty years BP has been the cause of several deadly disasters in the oil business in the U.S. and around the world. Despite their green washing effor...
This entails that business men who work for large corporations purposefully choose to turn a blind eye to the damage that their business does to the environment. They do this because of the benefits they receive from what the business produces with resources that is hurtful to the environment. It is foolish to choose an option that puts our homes and race in further danger. In class, we discussed the Kyoto Protocol which a little less than two hundred countries are a part of. The goal of this international treaty is to fight global
The climate crisis of the 21st century seems to be all about climate change and or global warming. Many people think the most of the manmade climate is being caused by the world’s largest companies that use the most power, which between them produced nearly two-thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions generated since the dawning of the industrial age, new research suggests. The companies range from investor owned firms, household names such as Chevron, Exxon and BP to state owned and government ran companies. The analysis say that, which has been welcomed by the former Vice President Al Gore as a "crucial step forward" found that most of the majority of the companies were in the business of producing oil, gas or coal. (Kenny)
Since its discovery back in the year 1858 crude oil has been become one of the most sought after resources on the face of the planet. It is due to this fact that the oil industry has fallen into a rather odd category in the case of globalization and seeking out new markets, new labor and new customers. The reason being that the need for crude oil and fuel is always present therefore the product of oil in its basic sense sells itself and the companies do not have to go out and publicly advertise it in the sense that clothing lines and other commodities do. Oil companies must focus more on the matter of why an individual should buy their oil and along with other alternative fuels over their competitors even though in the end the companies products are the same thing. The company ExxonMobil has been the superior company in the oil industry for quite sometime now, and had plenty of success as individual companies before their merger in 1999. The reason for there success is partially due to the power they wield as the most successful company, leading to many new refineries around the world, making deals with smaller companies to gain access to new markets and are leading the world in alternative fuel research. However these things all come naturally to the biggest oil company in the industry, the real question is how they became the powerhouse they are now. That question can be answered by the way in which the company has not focused in globalizing their product of fuel and oil, but globalizing the image of the company company. This is achieved by focusing on charity in which they donate hundreds of millions of dollars, Foreign Direct Investment in areas in which they wish to expand by attempting to provide these impoverished areas wit...
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society is facing today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been slowest” (geocraft). There are no known solutions yet to reverse these effects in the environment, however there are many things people can do to prevent it from increasing. By implementing a carbon tax the government can tax corporations on how much carbon they emit into the atmosphere. With the extra money from the tax, scientist can invest in alternative ways to reduce how much carbon is emitted. Reducing climate change is going to take years and so nothing is going to get fixed anytime soon, but meanwhile we can use that extra money to begin cleaning up the atmosphere. There are many ways to explain climate change, some say its due to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, others say it is the burning of the fossils fuels, some even say it’s the greenhouse gases. All of these sayings mean the exact same thing, no matter how one says it. I believe there are more convenient ways to solve climate change; and if the government would to implement a carbon tax on companies they will then be forced to re-evaluate all the carbon they emit to the environment and red...
It seems as if money hires protection for affluent communities against pollution and other environmental harms. If in 2015, we still see this kind of behavior then it means that many of the cases in between haven’t had much importance in politics to take initiative to solve them. Companies are allowed to pollute communities of color and lower income because it seems that they don’t have a strong of a voice then wealthier areas. These hard-working people not only work in the lowest paying, dangerous occupations but political biases make it easier for pollution to reach their lives. Guides corporations through the path of least resistance towards the low-income areas where they allocate their pollution.
Exxon Oil Company is currently under scrutiny for possibly failing to disclose information to outside investors and the public about the effects of Exxon’s oil production on the climate and more importantly how those negative effects would affect the company’s business. The company
That is a serious problem. Why is this our first instinct as a society? This suggests that the big time corporations are irresponsible and they should be held accountable for polluting the earth and making innocent families suffer for their actions. Some people might say that individuals can also help stop climate change. However, a single person's attempt will still not cover for the big time corporations actions.
To help further explain these misleading claims, a well recognized company by the media is called Terrachoice. “The Terrachoice Environment Marketing Consulting practice converts knowledge of markets, science and marketing into winning, client-centered solutions to help sustainability leaders deliver results” (“The "six sins," 2007). Terrachoice has conducted a study of the “Environmental Claims in North American Consumer Markets” and found shocking results that made them want to give warning to potential consumers about the ‘six sins of greenwashing. The Terrachoice Company was designed to improve the communication between the purchasers and consumers, helping to enhance, strengthen, and prove market relationship.
ConocoPhillips is in the strategic stage where they integrate the societal issue into their core business strategies. Companies in this stage learn “how realigning its strategy to address responsible business practices can give it a leg up on the competition and contribute to the organization’s long-term success” (Zadek, 2004). ConocoPhillips is implementing “high environmental standards in order to ensure that their actions today will not only provide the energy needed to drive economic growth and social well being, but also secure a stable and healthy environment for tomorrow” (ConocoPhillips,
Green is good. Political color-coding and branding as of late associates the adjective “green” with nature, with balance, and with a sense of regard toward Earth. Greenpeace, Green Party, Going Green. Owing in part to basic consumer awareness, shifting political winds, and ever-evolving market sensibilities, advertising has grown much greener in the past few decades. However, the idea of green advertising offers a striking contradiction. With the basic philosophy of advertising essentially dirty and “brown,” and with the tenets of pure capitalism fundamentally opposed to a truly ecological society (Corbett 237), the term “green advertising” offers little more than an oxymoron. Though research on marketing trends indicate a decline in pandering
Humans have been destroying the planet since we were able to stand on two legs. As a society, we need to work to reverse these terrible effects that our existence has on the planet. Sustainability is one way to begin reversing these effects, while still living our daily lives. In 2006, Al Gore presented his documentary, “ An Inconvenient Truth”, as a way to show the world the evidence behind global warming, climate change and the destruction of our planet. This documentary shocked the world. It was clear that changes needed to be made, but the destruction was more intense than previously thought. SInce this revelation in 2006, companies have tried to cut down on their greenhouse emissions, as well as offered sustainable products to their customers. Through a debate of morals and
With the development of the science and technology, more and more people are going for healthy and green products. According to this situation, there are many companies claim their products are “green”. However, there are thousands of so-called “green” products, but not all of them live up to their claims, a considerable part of products not only damage the human’s body, but also pollute the environment. People called these companies “greenwashing”. Greenwashing refers to the practice of deceiving consumers into believing that a company is practicing environmentally friendly policies and procedures. Seems like anything and everything has “gone green” these days. Such as airlines, car companies, retailers, restaurants, even networks and stadiums. Thankfully, more often than not, that’s a good thing. It is only bad if it is greenwashing — that is bad for the environment and consumers, because of businesses doing the greenwashing.