UL combating Greenwashing

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Green Biz published an article describing the entrance of UL into the Green Certification area as a “key growth strategy” for their business intended to combat greenwashing.

I have many years of electronics industry experience in a previous life, so I offer my perspective on UL. You provide them with your test results with an exorbitant fee (because it is an electronics industry requirement) and you are Certified! Rubber stamped based upon their previously-defined qualification criteria.

How would that model translate to the dynamic and extremely diverse eco-business climate? Would standards be flexible enough for innovation?

Another model is to bring together interested and knowledgeable constituents, both public and private, without the bias of a profit motive, to develop standards using already-accepted methodologies.

An example of this is the process used by various committees of the CCX (Chicago Climate Exchange) to establish “protocols” for use by verifiers when an entity wants to sell carbon credits on the exchange. With significant investment sums at stake, they seek to establish a trustworthy valuation mechanism necessary for the proper functioning of markets.

In my opinion, a similar approach would be a more valuable, transparent, and flexible method to evaluate eco-friendly claims.  This is an important issue in the eco-business community, and I would like to hear from you whether you agree with my premise, or disagree, believing UL can provide a valuable contribution.  If not them, who?

Posted in Business, CCX, Certification, Greenwashing | 4 Comments »