Who says you’re green? By what standard of sustainability are you being measured? Does that measurement have any merit? Is it apples-to-apples, or oranges-to-cow pies?
Such is the state of today’s green rating system. It’s a bit like suntan lotion. You’ll come out a different shade of green depending on what SPF of sustainability they apply to you.
That’s why I find Zumer.com interesting. It was brought to my attention by Nicole Sorochan, creative director and co-founder of EnviroSpeak.tv (see yesterday’s post).
Zumer relies on both input from the green organization it’s reporting on, as well as insights from citizens and consumers who come in contact with the company, product or service, and encourages them to post their findings on the site.
Zumer’s mission is to empower consumers and encourage companies to develop responsible sustainability practices.
I searched Patagonia, and Zumer offered me it’s rating index (4.52 out of 9) based on the company’s approach to the environment, society, product reponsiblity and corporate citizenship. Patagonia was compared to related companies, like Liz Claiborne, Quicksilver, and The North Face.
Is Zumer more or less biased than any of the other green rating systems? Can you trust how consumers rate the greenness of companies and products?
One thing is for sure, I think Zumer carries with it a power the other more academic/regulatory approaches don’t, because it empowers the consumer to speak out and give the thumbs up or down toward a company’s approach to sustainability across the board.
What do you think?
Tags: Green Marketing, green rating system, sustainability, zumer.com
Posted in: Corporate Enviro Causes, Green Marketing, Green Social Media, Sustainable Marketing
Park, your points above regarding the factoring of consumer opinions and feedback is spot on. I think any rating system should account, at some level, for consumer input. After all, it’s the consumer who ultimately makes the decision to buy a product after factoring in price, attributes and other social and environmental values. These values are not always quantified by science or academic analysis. For example, as someone who lives in the country side, I might place more emphasis on packaging and disposal whereas an urban consumer may place more emphasis on variants that effect air quality such as transport and manufacturing. At the end of the day if we want to empower consumers to make greener purchasing decisions we need a rating system that factors these personal values into the scientific process. Only by empowering the consumer will we induce wide-scale change in consumer behavior necessary to combat the environmental crisis.
I would like to add to Dylan’s comment- when factoring the consumer perspective it also prevents manufacturers from studying specific green rating criteria and creating a product that is “sure to pass the test.” Ie. EnergyStar. Most appliance manufacturers know exactly what to do to get a product EnergyStar approved but consumers do not always agree. A front loader washer may be more energy efficient, but many hold half as much laundry as traditional top loaders and therefore you are running your machine twice as much. Also- are the materials green? Is disposal easy? How quick will the product break and have to be replaced? By allowing consumer opinion into a score you eliminate the ease in manufacturers holding the pocket aces for purely science based ratings.
There must be an element of accountability as well, which inconveniently complicates these endeavours.
EnergyStar has had it’s fraud issues with letting products carry their label simply because they could afford their fee.
The costs associated with the green movement are far too expensive to leave it to trust; unfortunatley for many, hard facts are going to have to play a role in these rating systems …
All great points. The “hard facts,” coupled with consumer opinion, are the two necessary elements for a more democratized rating system. Far too often consumers abdicate their buying choices to bureaucratic regulatory ratings, either by law or by choice. Consumer advocate models like Yelp.com, and Amazon.com have proven the power in tapping the buyer’s voice and helping them to freely share it with the world. I see Zumer leveraging the best of both models.