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Going Green Takes More Than Talk

Guest post by: Yvonne DiVita

Article Overview: We're hearing a whole lot about "going green" from companies across the globe, but what does it really mean? ARE they going green? Or, are they just giving this idea lip-service? Women aren't waiting around to find out. We're out there researching, exploring, and talking about it. If you think you can fool us...think again. We're mad as hell and we're not gonna take it anymore.

Going Green Takes More Than Talk

Women demonstrating in front of large corporations brings back memories of the 1960s. We ladies were strong in our feminism back in the day, although I personally never saw anyone burn her bra. Still, we were full of the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it any longer" attitude. We wanted to be treated as equals; we wanted equal rights and equal pay and we were willing to get loud and obnoxious about it. Over time, we married, had babies, and turned our attention to other things. But, we never forgot.

Welcome to the 21st century and a resurgence of that feminist focus. No, Victoria's Secret doesn't have to worry - none of us are running around burning our bras. And, Martha Stewart is safe - we're still into scrapbooking and decorating the living room. And while we are still in pursuit of equal pay, we have added something more important to our feminist focus: the environement. Instead of demonstrating against the "system" as we did back in our youth, today's women are demonstrating against the lack of respect we see big corporations give to the place we live: Mother Earth. We're holding you all to task...IBM, Xerox, Kodak, Wegmans, even the little corner grocery store - you're all in our sights, and we're watching to see what effect you have on the environment.

We know we're making strides. We have more powerful tools today, than we did in those mid-twentieth century days. Today we have the Internet and social media and social networking. We have blog networks like Blogher, with over 1000 women writing in it. Not all of them write on going green, but enough of them do to command attention. And, we have individual bloggers like Mary Hunt at In Women We Trust, whose recent article "Purses, Peers, Posts and the Power to Move Markets" gets into the real dirt of the issue: the cost of public opinion. http://inwomenwetrust.typepad.com/in_women_we_trust/2008/03/purses-peers-po.html

As Mary says, "Companies are being pro-active and sending out letters to womens' groups before they take them to the court of public opinion."

Mary quotes from other women bloggers, like Karen Hanrahan who writes about the Organic Consumers Association, and discusses 1,4- dioxane... a "sufactant and sudsing agent used in all kinds of products. It's an ether. When it's distilled and concentrated it becomes explosive."

Karen then links to a blog called 7th Generation, which explains the OCA research Karen discusses. Accordingly, 7th Generation notes that, "Consumers want to know what ingredients are in the products they use in their homes and they want to be informed about the potential effects of these chemicals on their health and the health of their families."

Interestingly, the comments on 7th Generation's site http://www.seventhgeneration.com/learn/blog/seventh-generations-response-oca reveal disappointment from a number of women. Disappointment in the lip-service this company pays to being environmentally safe.

The world is a different place -- bigger, more intense, but more connected than it was during what we boomers remember as the tumultuous sixties. Women have a louder voice today. A collective voice that flows across all boundaries. We're mad, really mad, and we're not gonna take anymore!

If you're talking green, but you aren't being green, we'll find out. And, we won't be silent about it. Be prepared.

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