Subscribe in a reader
Follow La Vida Locavore on Twitter - Read La Vida Locavore on Kindle

Newsweek Jumps On Greenwagon, Smacks Face on Bumper

by: JayinPortland

Fri Sep 25, 2009 at 07:00:00 AM PDT

Newsweek has taken upon itself the task of ranking America's 500 "Greenest" big companies. Which I'd argue is kinda sorta like ranking America's 500 "Safest" Defective Products, but that's neither here nor there.

Let's take a look at what they've come up with. According to Newsweek, McDonald's (yeah, McDonald's) is the 22nd "Greenest" Big Company in America.

Leader among its peers in extending environmental concerns throughout its supply chain.

Talk about setting the bar low. But then there's this -

Buys fish from sustainably managed fisheries

Whoa, back up there...

Sustainably managed what?

Anyways, I'm obviously no fan of Whole Foods here... but according to Newsweek, McDonald's ranks 45 spots higher than Whole Foods on their "green" scale. Now call me crazy, but I don't think the average McDonald's meal is 3 times "greener" than something you can find at WFM.

Littering the landscape with garish, flimsy little boxes from sea to shining sea (or is it now the land that shines, from tacky backlit plastic signs and highway lamps; while the seas appear dull and dead?) in service of our extreme car culture isn't very environmentally friendly. I've also gotta wonder whether employee pay, benefits, etc... were included in their calculations.

Another interesting observation - Coca-Cola and WalMart are, respectively, 9 and 8 spots higher than Whole Foods, as well. Okay, if WalMart (!) is fifty-something in a "green" survey? I think that's the point at which you lose all credibility.

Ironically enough, Newsweek also has a new article up online discussing corporate greenwashing. No mention, though, of the author's own publication's recent foray into same...

JayinPortland :: Newsweek Jumps On Greenwagon, Smacks Face on Bumper

Tags: greenwashing, Newsweek, (All Tags)

Print Friendly View

Send As Email

Newsweek Jumps On Greenwagon, Smacks Face on Bumper | 1 comments

On a related topic ... (4.00 / 2)

... have you ever looked at the investment portfolios of most so-called 'socially responsible' mutual funds? Beats the hell out of some of the stuff on Comedy Central, even.

One thing that is starting to happen, that probably affects these rankings to some extent, is some truly aggressive work on energy efficiency and waste reduction by some of these huge corporations.

Mal-Wart is pushing the efficiency of its truck fleet up by a couple of tens of percent, with more to come. Now, I don't believe for a second they'd be too serious about all that if it didn't save them a shitpile of money (which, in turn, makes them more competitive).

I still dislike the company, don't need their Cheap Plastic Crap (TM)(R) or halfassed organics, and think their labor record is vile. Chances of me shopping there are nil.

They're such a huge player in the trucking business, though, that they can insist on changes from their truck suppliers, and they can alter the trucking landscape so that those doing it the old way have to adapt or perish.

We're on the cusp of many companies getting greener simply because they have to if they want to survive. I think there'll be limits, though -- when getting greener challenges a company's core business, it'll slow way, way down. Or stop. Could you imagine McDonalds shutting down drive-throughs, or taking a hard look at the environmental impact of beef production?

OMG, bees are cool.

by: by foot @ Mon Sep 28, 2009 at 03:24:44 AM UTC