I might be a little jaded. But every time I see a business claim that it is been “green” (i.e., environmentally responsible out of the goodness of its heart), it just so happens that the business is doing something self-serving and primarily for profit that also happens to use less paper.

Don’t miss updates on Procurement & Supply Chain, Subscribe here!

For example, statements like “We’re going green and will be sending your billing statements by email” irk me. I think a more truthful version of this statement would be “Look. Our CEO needs to boost our stock price so he can increase his net worth. We’re cutting costs by emailing, rather than printing and mailing, your billing statement. This also uses less paper which is good for the environment but, we gotta be honest with you, the real reason we’re doing it is to boost profits.”

There’s nothing wrong with boosting profits. It’s what you should do in business.

But must we use the green claims in such an almost sacrilegious way? Do marketers think we’re stupid and that we’ll support anything that mentions a green benefit?

They must. Because how else could you explain a company putting a promotion to “Use less resources, protect more planet” on the back of a EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX PAGE CATALOG?!?!?!?!