Exposing APP: Keeping Our Eyes On The Prize

As Rainforest Action Network (RAN) continues our negotiations with The Walt Disney Company to secure a comprehensive paper policy that would exclude rainforest destruction from the company’s products, we are also keeping our eyes on the real prize: reforming logging giant and Indonesian rainforest destroyer Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). APP has been called “one [...]

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Three Actions Across Canada Launch Campaign Against RBC’s Olympic-Sized Greenwashing

So I really like the Winter Olympics – they really put the Summer Olympics to shame. Hockey, luge, figure skating, bobsledding, downhill skiing… and even that sport that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting! (Whose idea was that??) But this year, a wide variety of activists, in B.C. and beyond, are reminding us that the [...]

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RAN Toronto Crashes RBC’s Unveiling of New Headquarters

Today, Royal Bank of Canada held a fancy reception for journalists at their new headquarters, the 43-story, $400 million RBC Centre. RBC was practically bursting at the seams with pride at having achieved LEED Gold environmental certification for this new building – and was eager to share their excitement with environmental and business journalists. So [...]

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Grassroots Movement Demands Justice for the Oil Industry

Poor Big Oil. They’ve really been taking a hit lately. Between weak climate legislation that would marginally take a bite out of their mammoth profits, billion-dollar lawsuits accusing them of dumping wastewater in some rainforest somewhere, and direct actions blaming them for cooking the climate, oil companies have really been feeling the heat. And I’m [...]

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The Scale of Greenwashing

I think the first time I ever heard the word ‘greenwashing’ was in the late ’80s or maybe early ’90s after I saw a flier from McDonald’s about how they didn’t use beef from the Amazon. I brought the flier home to show my mother, an environmentalist, because I was so proud to show her [...]

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GM folds under pressure: greenwashing 2.0 and the aesthetic of authenticity

We’ve been getting some good press lately about how GM’s public relations people decided to turn off some features on gmnext.com and hold a special forum in response to our supporters’ concerns about their environmental practices (they also killed some of the images we uploaded before they ever went live). GM poured untold resources into [...]

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RAN Grassroots Confronts “new push for authenticity by companies”

As promised, General Motors hosted a live webchat to address “corporate greenwashing” for RAN supporters yesterday. The Detroit News covered the event, featuring GM executive Brent Dewar “answering” questions from more than 65 RAN supporters (I use scare quotes because of the large number of questions he ignored and the indirect responses he gave to [...]

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UPDATE: GM Responds to RAN Activists!

Last week I told you that RAN supporters shut down interactive features on General Motor’s new greenwashing website, gmnext.com. We posted pictures of student activists at the Detroit auto show protesting automakers on the site and thousands of RAN supporters flooded GM with comments supporting the students and asking the giant automaker to take real [...]

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RAN Supporters Shut Down GM Greenwashing Site!

Last week RAN supports shut down one of the biggest and most ambitious online corporate greenwashing campaigns. To mark its 100th anniversary two weeks ago, General Motors launched a new interactive website, gmnext, where the public was encouraged to submit photos, videos and comments in order to help the company answer questions like “how should [...]

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Greenwash of the Week (Take II): the Malaysian Palm Oil Board

Wow… if you think that the Malaysian Palm Oil Council’s advertisement (see Stan’s Post) is atrocious, check out the intro video at Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s website. Amazing, huh? The Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s mission is to “enhance the well-being of the Malaysian oil palm industry through research, development and excellent services”… which is exactly [...]

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