Greenwashing is a hot topic at the moment as many companies are keen to advertise their green/ecological credentials. Greenwash is the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a products or service.

To help you avoid Greenwash the following 7 guidance notes are available:

• Hidden trade-off – a claim suggesting that a product is “green” based on a small set of attributes without attention to other important environmental issues. For example, energy efficient lightbulbs made in a factory which pollutes rivers.
• No proof – when an environmental claim has been made and cannot be easily validated by supporting information or by a reliable third-party certification.
• Vagueness – when the claim is so vaguely defined or broad that the real meaning is likely to be misunderstood by the consumer.
• False labels – A product that gives the impression via images or words of third-party endorsement where no such endorsement exists.
• Irrelevance – This is a claim that may be truthful but is irrelevant for consumers seeking a environmentally prefable product. For example, products claiming “CFC-free” despite the fact that CFC’s are banned by law.
• Lesser of two evils – a claim that may be true within the product category, but that risks distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the category as a whole. For example, organic cigarettes.
• Fibbing – these are environmental claims that are no other than false. The most common examples of this are products falsely claiming to be Energy Star rated or registered.

After the press release about our work on recycled materials in electricals was published on Wrap’s website we received a call from Design Week Magazine who wanted more info on this project for their article. Please see the article below:

Giraffe Innovation works on ‘recycled’ hi-fi

Giraffe Innovation is working on the designs of two products which could be the first electrical goods containing recycled materials to hit the high street.

The consultancy is working with TT Audio Plastics as part of a project run by Wrap to create a Meridian hi-fi co-branded with Ferrari, and a television stand produced by Vital.

Giraffe was selected through an open tender process which finished in January, according to a spokeswoman for Wrap, and the project is now at the early development stage.

A spokesman for Giraffe says, ‘Work is ongoing to get something to market as soon as possible, having proved the principle of using recycled materials is both cost-effective and acceptable in terms of quality.’

To read the whole article go to http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/141954/Giraffe+Innovation+works+on+%E2%80%98recycled%E2%80%99+hi-fi+.html

The following press release was published on WRAP’s website today. We at Giraffe are very excited and proud to be involved in a great project like this!

WRAP funded project gives recycled WEEE a new lease of life

A WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) project is set to introduce electrical goods containing recycled content onto the high street for the first time. A Meridian hi-fi co-branded with Ferrari and a television stand produced by Vital will be demonstrated by TT Audio Plastics and Giraffe Innovation.

This project aims to incorporate recycled materials into high quality consumer products, delivering significant cost savings and environmental benefits to manufacturers and brands.

In November 2008, Indesit, in collaboration with WRAP and Axion Recycling, successfully recycled plastics from WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) materials, specifically shredded plastic waste from domestic fridges, into a cover plate for two flagship washing machine models. TT Audio and Giraffe plan to take the possibilities of recycled content further and produce high performance audiovisual equipment incorporating recycled content. Both the casing and internal components are being developed from 100% recycled UK WEEE plastic and will be aesthetically attractive, high quality and as robust as those made entirely from virgin materials.

Marcus Gover, WRAP’s Market Development Director said: “We are pleased to work with leading brands Ferrari and Meridian to develop high quality electricals and build on the succesful research that Indesit and Axion produced last year. We believe this project will further embed the feasibility of closed-loop recycling in electrical equipment as not only delivering quality, but also cost benefits to manufacturers in these difficult times. We look forward to seeing the outcome of these products in the autumn.”

Tim Ireland CEO of Meridian Audio said: “Historically manufacturers have been reluctant to embrace recycling technology because of concerns about brand perception. Meridian is committed to retaining the quality of the brand, but at the same time is open to new technologies that benefit the environment. We are delighted to be involved in this project.”

TT Audio Plastics Technical Sales Manager David Crack added: “Using recyclate in these products is at the development stage, however we believe there is a strong commercial case in producing and promoting these products and we are keen to see the results in autumn 2009.”

Source: www.wrap.org.uk/wrap_corporate/news/wrap_funded_projec_1.html

Meridian Audio website: http://media.meridian-audio.com/

TT Audio Plastics website: www.ttaudioplastics.co.uk/

LONDON’S LEADERS EMBRACE SUSTAINABILITY

UK AWARE LONDON OLYMPIA – 17TH & 18TH APRIL 2009

London Leaders will take centre stage at UKAware (www.ukaware.com), Britain’s biggest green consumer lifestyle show, to promote sustainable development in London. The discussion panel: ‘Local to Global: Catalysing change ffrom boardrooms to communities – experiences of the London Leaders’ will take place Friday 17th April, 10.30-11.45am.

Commenting at the time of the London Leaders 2009 launch, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: ‘This year’s team of London Leaders have a wonderful opportunity to make a real difference to our city and I look forward to seeing what they will achieve in 2009. Inspirational individuals can really help to galvanise communities and organisations to make changes for the better and help create a more liveable, pleasant city now and for future generations.’

Founder of UK AWARE, Danny Carnegie, says: “We are so excited to have such huge names at this year’s show and we’re expecting to treble visit numbers on last year and have a fun packed couple of days lined up. We hope that the London Leaders will inspire regular Londoners to make changes small and big that can save money, save energy and save the planet.”

The London Leaders panel at UK AWARE, ‘Local to Global: Catalysing chnage from boardrooms to communities – experiences of the London Leaders’, features 5 of the 16 London Leaders:

• Rob Holdway (Chair) – Director of Giraffe Innovation and Presenter of Channel 4’s Dumped screened last year (Rob’s dumped blog), and he’s a judge on this years Observer Ethical Awards
• Chantal Cooke - Managing Director of Passion for the Planet Radio, the UK’s only radio station providing you with solutions for a green and healthy lifestyle
• Frances Corner - Head of College at London College of Fashion, the UK’s only college to specialise in fashion eductation, research and consultancy. Frances is pioneering the adoption of sustainable and ethical practise into the fashion education arena
• Ben Todd - Executive Director of Arcola Theatre. Ben’s passion is to make the Arcola Theatre carbon neutral and create the world’s first environmental technology incubator in an arts setting
• Richard Featherstone - Regional Development Manager, London Community Recycling Network. Richard was founding Trustee of the national Furniture Recycling Network when it was established in 1989

The London Leaders programme is an initiative of the London Sustainable Development Commission – bringing together London’s leading lights in sustainability, to deliver real change, and inspire others to do the same. The London Leaders programme is delighted to be associated with UK AWARE, seeking to promote positive behaviour change to benefit the local and global environment.

Now in its second year, UK AWARE takes place at London Olympia Two on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April 2009 between 10am and 6pm.