Nowadays usage of the label ‘environmentalist’ has a distinctly negative connotation. As if environmentalists have an agenda other than a better world for everyone – including non-environmentalists. And the label ‘greenie’ is even more derogatory. Indeed I can’t say I’ve ever heard it used in a positive context. I think that regarding the environment and related topics, the use of some words takes on a significance that words used in other areas of human knowledge doesn’t, and never will. I don’t know why this is so. Perhaps because the topic of the environment is so contentious; compounded by the chasmic divide between the level of education and socio-cultural awareness of environmentalists, and that of their opponents. Previously I’ve quoted Lewis Carroll: ‘When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less’. Vis-à-vis the environment, one word fitting this quote oh so snugly is ‘greenwash’ – which I’ve mentioned four times previously. Another one, which I saw for the first time here a few days ago, is 'localwash'. Localwashing’s a form of greenwashing wherein businesses claim to be local when actually…they aren’t. It’s an invention of unscrupulous, greedy and deceptive people. In 2008, 98% of eco-labelled products were at least partly greenwashed [1] So stay alert for localwashing. It’s here. Now.
