We mention the term greenwashing a lot and it is possible folks don’t always know what we’re talking about, it’s whitewashing, but for the environment. It is deliberately trying to conceal unpleasant facts- a cover up, or to sweep something under the rug by making something seem more environmentally friendly than it really is, in order to appeal to consumers who are spending their money based on these good environmental practices. 

Greenwashing is an unflattering term because it is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound. Greenwashing is considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally safe,  or that the company is taking legitimate actions to reduce their negative environmental impact. An example that comes to our minds is the Volkswagen clean diesel scandal where the company marketed their diesel vehicles as the cleaner option knowing they were emitting dangerous chemicals. It led consumers into believing they were buying a product that has become “better” when it actually has not. When bottled water companies advertise that the caps on their bottles are now smaller so they use less plastic, that is greenwashing. In short, it is a lie, at best a half truth. 

(Plastic waste in a Fairfax County creek. Photo credit: Clean Fairfax)

A couple weeks ago we shared a story about British Petroleum’s (BP) personal carbon footprint calculator. This week’s greenwashing all-star is Royal Dutch Shell. Shell’s Twitter account tweeted “What are you willing to change to help reduce emissions?” Our first question was, “Who let that Tweet go public?”

What is Shell doing to reduce emissions? In 2016 Shell announced they would be investing between $4 and $6 billion in their “new energies” program to increase their renewable energy portfolio. The company has only spent about $2 billion on “new energies” since 2016. During this same time period Shell spent over $120 billion on fossil fuel projects and plans to spend $30 billion annually in the coming years bolstering their commitment to fossil fuels. Here’s the full story on Shell gaslighting the public. 

Shell isn’t just focused on energy production, the company is spending billions of dollars building up their plastic production capabilities. Shell is in the final stages of constructing a multibillion dollar plastic production facility outside of Pittsburgh. This facility will have ethane supplied by the new Falcon pipeline and its own rail system with over 3,000 freight cars. Shell has built this brand new 386 acre facility thanks in part to a $1.6 billion subsidy to reduce construction costs, the largest tax subsidy ever provided in Pennsylvania. When this plastic production facility is complete, it will be capable of producing over 1 million tons of plastic pellets every year. The tax subsidy they received for this project is almost equal to what the company has invested in renewable energy in the last four years. Shell’s new plastic facility will result in over 2 million tons of carbon dioxide every year. 

So we ask again, what is Shell doing to reduce emissions? The answer- Nothing. You can read about Shell’s new disastrous plastic production facility here and here.

(Plastic bottles on the bank of the Potomac River in Fairfax County. Photo credit: Clean Fairfax)

Another reason we don’t need Shell building one of the largest plastic production facilities in the world is because the US is already by far the world’s largest generator of plastic waste. In 2016, the US generated 42 million metric tons of plastic waste and ranked third among coastal countries for litter and mismanaged waste on shorelines with 2.24 million metric tons escaping into the environment. 2.24 million metric tons would cover the White House lawn in a pile as high as the Empire State Building. The US has just 4% of the global population, but generates 17% of all plastic waste and we have no solution to handle the waste we are generating. National Geographic did a great write up on the latest global trash study that you can read here. You can read the entire study, The United States’ Contribution of Plastic Waste to Land and Ocean, here. 

We (regular people, consumers, folks who are trying to do the right thing) cannot be expected to continue to clean up the messes that have been made by these corporations. The responsibility to clean up and solve the plastic crisis must be placed on corporations. Yes, we must take every plastic bottle to the recycling bin and we must reduce our usage of single use plastics, but without systemic changes at the top the crisis will only continue. We produce almost 20% of plastic waste on the planet without the infrastructure to handle the flow. Corporations must act to benefit society rather than ask us what we are going to do to reduce emissions.  

We can always do better, But they HAVE to do better. Our lives depend on it.