Picture:  Courtesy of titlap

I guess many of you (in Euroland) have already seen the new Bond film Quantum of Solace.  If you haven’t already seen the film…don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil it (completely) for you in this blog post. And, I am also assuming many of you have already heard that the new film has an interesting French villain ((Dominic (not so) Greene)) who masquerades as an Eco-friendly executive.  The US is portrayed as an “energy-hungry” country, looking to destabilize smaller, energy rich countries (in this case Bolivia).  In a kind of Cold War throwback, the CIA agents in the movie admit to being “OK” with placing despicable dictators in power if they are aligned with US interests.

BUT, thank goodness eco-Bond comes to the rescue!

Harpymarx asks if this new mega-film will inspire younger viewers into a political consciousness about oil, water and climate change?

I wonder if the film will spark more consumer cynicism around green product claims.  Indeed, green consumers are beginning to question dubious product claims and Greenwashing is fast becoming a familiar term.  In 2008, Greenwashing awareness started to gain critical mass as firms released studies like “The Six Sins of Greenwashing.”  This study from TerraChoice was extremely negative, showing that 99% of 1,018 common consumer products randomly surveyed were guilty of some type of Greenwashing. Indeed, corporations are not doing themselves any favors by being vague or masking trade-offs in their claims.  While I recognize that this is a big problem right now in the marketplace, I am concerned that the cynicism could hurt future product launches that really are better for the environment.  While there are new organizations cropping up attempting to help consumers discover companies that really “walk the Eco talk,” we may need some Govt. regulatory help at some point, sadly…

Below are the 6 Sins from the TerraChoice study:

Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off: e.g. “Energy-efficient” electronics that contain hazardous materials.

Sin of No Proof: e.g. Shampoos claiming to be “certified organic,” but with no verifiable certification.

Sin of Vagueness: e.g. Products claiming to be 100% natural when many naturally-occurring substances are hazardous, like arsenic and formaldehyde (see appeal to nature).

Sin of Irrelevance: e.g. Products claiming to be CFC-free, even though CFCs were banned 20 years ago.

Sin of Fibbing: e.g. Products falsely claiming to be certified by an internationally recognized environmental standard like EcoLogo, Energy Star or Green Seal.

Sin of Lesser of Two Evils: e.g. Organic cigarettes or “environmentally friendly” pesticides,

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