greenwashing
Posted by Anthony Zumpano on October 2, 2009 05:07 PM
The hue of Tiffany's signature blue boxes may verge slightly toward green. But who would have expected the jewelry giant to lead a green revolt against one of its own potential suppliers?
Four luxury companies, including a pair of class-ring manufacturers, have joined some of America’s top jewelry brands in boycotting the use of any gold extracted from Pebble Mine, a mineral exploration project in Alaska that critics say will disrupt the world's most productive salmon fishery. Tiffany & Co. is leading the list of brands representing nearly $4 billion in annual sales.
Just as food and clothing brands covet Fairtrade certification to declare their products have met environmental and labor standards, luxury brands know that many consumers care where and how their precious metals and stones were mined. Organizations like No Dirty Gold and Survival International, not to mention popular films and songs, track and highlight the abuse of land and labor in the pursuit of baubles and bangles.
The Pebble Partnership, a collaboration between Canadian-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and London-based Anglo American, is trying to allay these concerns with a website that features images of hardworking employees and an untouched creek; the word “environment” appears at least nine times on the homepage.
But even if the Pebble Partnership’s arguments are valid, the mining companies have dug themselves quite a hole of negative publicity. Casual observers might ignore the protests of some ragtag environmentalists, or even warnings from the Sierra Club, but when a brand with the strength and trust of Tiffany is protesting a source of its own products, it will be noticed -- even by people who don't shop there.
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