Yesterday I had planned to attend the National Institute of Health’s Yoga Week, which featured a lecture by Denise Clark, a training and education manager for Burt’s Bees, and entitled “Earth-Friendly Body-Care.” My contact at NIH had invited me to both a yoga class and Denise Clark’s lecture; considering that only the week before I learned that Burt’s Bees had been purchased by Clorox for a whopping $925 million (thank you to Andrea for the tip), I wanted to ask Ms. Clark about the buyout and whether new ownership meant a change in Burt’s Bees product ingredients, or quality.
Unfortunately, I did not find myself chanting “om” or interrogating any Clorox (okay, Burt’s Bees) reps yesterday because my 17 month old is teething and I was on about 2 hours sleep. As I was dragging my tired self out of bed, my phone rang and apparently my contact at NIH (whose daughter is days older than mine) had suffered a similar evening. Neither of us were in any mood to become one with the universe.
Meanwhile I still wanted to find out more about Clorox and other giants like them who are now buying out reputable green products. My thoughts about Clorox echo those of Treehugger.com, who asks “Could this be a case of greenwashing because consumers prefer natural products these days?”
Comments at The Consumerist regarding the Burt’s Bees sell out buy out, range from the outraged to the practical. One commenter Str1cken, states the following:
“Why is it that every time a small, nice brand builds up enough of a customer base to make it an attractive national company they get bought out by the giants and everything that was good about them disappears. (Like fresh Samantha)?”
The majority of comments expressed disbelief, outrage, and a desire to hoard Burt’s Bees products before “ingredients are changed” in their favorite all natural products. Some commenters, who are perhaps frustrated and bitter over how our capitalist market can corrupt the remaining and few small companies who dare I say have integrity, write:
“Isn’t that the point of business? Maybe I missed something in school–I just don’t understand the cynicism around these kind of deals.”
The point is that consumers who vote with their dollar for quality and earth friendly products (that are paraben and phthalate free) are thrust into a market they’re already boycotting or at least try to avoid because the giants of our current market do not have a history of taking care of workers, the environment, or consumer health. The successes of small companies like Burt’s Bees and Tom’s of Maine were rooted in the trust that their consumers had in these businesses that these businesses would do no harm in trying to do what businesses do: stay in business.
Instead, many of our favorite green companies are getting bought out and green washed. In 2006, Colgate-Palmolive bought Tom’s of Maine for $100 million. Loreal bought The Body Shop for 1.4 billion. And now, the Sierra Club is endorsing Clorox’s new Green Works line of green cleaning products. Sierra Club (shame on you) explains their reasoning for partnering with Clorox and getting a whole lot of money too:
“[W]e have also determined that we will not achieve our overall goal of changing consumer behavior by making affordable, natural products available to the majority of Americans if we avoid partnering with companies simply because they have had environmental violations in the past, or make some product lines which we think could be improved.”
Arguably, major giants are aiding sustainability and bringing “green” into the mainstream. More likely though, major giants are eating a piece of the green consumerist pie by placing green products in Target and Walmart where mainstream consumers can get ‘em and looking good all the while. The giants, likely, will do little on behalf of the earth and local workers, but instead will do what they always do: make money at the cost of everyone and anything else. Business is business, right?
Who else is writing and blogging about green washing? Check out:
TreeHugger “Burts Bees is Purchased by Clorox”
TreeHugger “Colgate-Palmolive Buying Toms of Maine”
New York Times “Can Burt’s Bees Turn Clorox Green?”
The Consumerist “Clorox Buys Burt’s Bees”
The Chicago Tribune.com “Clorox Acquires Burt’s Bees”
Boston.com News “Colgate Buying Control of Tom’s of Maine for 100 Million”
Love for Leila “Tom’s of Maine Bought/Sold Out”
Ethical Consumer “Colgate Set to Swallow Tom’s of Maine Toothpaste”
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