Costco Sign by Greenwenvy08
Yesterday when my Costco Connections magazine arrived in the mail I couldn’t help but notice that something had changed. Let me describe here what I saw and you’ll get the picture. Greening Costco? I don’t think so Costco. Note that some of these are pretty subtle and I don’t think I’d have noticed them if I wasn’t so aware.
Page 8
“Green with flavor!” written in an attractive cursive style at the top of a recipe for apple cake. The only green about this is the color of the text and of the skin on two thin slices of Granny Smith apple in the photo. The apples are not organic and they are not locally grown, unless you live in Washington state.
Page 9
Watermelon Credo – an eye-catching, bold green and red illustration with words encouraging us to work together.
TruNature Pycnogenol – a bright green, bold advert for a dietary supplement described as “Nature’s Super Antioxidant”.
Eco-Lite – rechargeable flashlight with an Energy Star rechargeable battery. The green panel with white text says “Be prepared! Blizzards, Floods, Hurricanes, Ice Storms, Thunderstorms, Tornadoes… Blackouts, Brownouts.”
Pages 15, 16, 17
Article about Windows 7 – the screen shot has a very bold, green background which matches the shade of green used on page 9. On the debate pages, “Should we rely more on wind energy?” Interestingly they used a sunset colored background for the debate pages rather than a green one.
I think you’re getting the idea. Other instances of Green include: an article about connecting to community and neighborhood (with green text in the header), which refers not to Costco but to small business; a double page spread with the title “Who Can’t Use a Little More Green?” and liberal use of the color green which is an advert for Kirkland Signature vitamins; green colored packaging on disposable facial cleansing towelettes; “environmentally friendly” laundry detergent; green packaging on a box of 15 piece aluminum cookware; green avocado with pork; quality coffee “from individual farms”; “Buy Local. Cook Global” Kirkland onion and garlic products; green-colored packaging on disposable aluminum sheets; Kirkland baby wipes with “All Natural Fiber”; green backgrounds on ads for facial tissue, gift-wrap bows, and individual boxes of fruit juice… at this point I get tired of relating because there is something conspicuously green colored at least every couple of pages.
I do applaud any efforts to reduce packaging and to provide products that are kinder to the environment, and I’m not saying that Costco is necessarily any worse than other similar stores, or that none of the above items are an improvement, but their liberal use of the color green in this month’s magazine sure looks like greenwashing to me. And following on from my reading a few days back about Costco’s bad record on the use of sustainable wood it has left me with a bad taste.
What do you say? What would be a reasonable use of Green on advertising? What real green changes could Costco be making?
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Alison,
Great review of the “greenwashing” efforts of Costco. It seems all of the big box stores are attempting to tell us how “green” they are.
For example, Walmart now is promoting its “organic” food. Real organic growers are searching for another term because organic is now as meaningless as “natural” “sustainable” and many other terms.
Everybody wants in on the band wagon….they think it’s great that people will spend money on certain items so they start using these terms and green colors because they think we will just believe anything they tell us in their marketing materials.
Most of the big box stores have really bad records on how they treat their employees. Even Whole Foods doesn’t treat its employees very well, especially when it comes to healthcare.
I’d like to see all of these stores start putting their money where their mouth is. Imagine if each of these stores installed a green roof to reduce stormwater runoff, or solar panels or small wind to generate their own power. Each of them has a roof the size of a football field and they could all be making a contribution to solving the problem instead of thinking they can brainwash us by telling us how “green” they are.
Thank you for pointing out yet another attempt at greenwashing.
Carole, I love your suggestions. Did you hear that Costco? Put a green roof on the next warehouse you build!
A while back when I was reading about straw bale homes and earthships I remember coming across a store in Northern California which was heated with passive solar and had other amazing low-impact environmental features. I’d like to see big box stores using best environmental practices at the level of store design. The know-how is out there.
Great article! I really like Carole’s green roof idea too. If these companies put their marketing money to good use rather than trying to find the words to spin their way to “green” they would be making a difference.
I like that Wendy, more spending on green architects and less on “green” marketers.
Yes, I agree, that issue of the Costco Connection sounded like a bit of a greenwash.
So, I did a little investigating since I’m a lonstanding Costco member. Briefly mentioned in the issue was a description of a waste diversion program in Socal. Turns out that Costco has expanded this program to the Bay Area in Norcal. Some of the buildings, such as the solar powered Livermore location, are diverting more than 80% of their waste from the landfill! They have installed native plants and drip irrigation in their lanscaping, have free electric car chargers in the parking lot, and are using only biodegradable cleaning products.
The Livermore store is now the first big box to be green biz certified. Santa Clara, San Francisco, Modesto, San Jose, and others have implemented the same diversion program. I have to say that it’s pretty cool that they are spending the time and money to be proactive initiating green practices. Let’s continue to hold their feet to the fire and see what kind of example they can set for the 20,000+ members that walk through the door of a single location each week!
r u serious? rag on a company like Costco? Maybe u should go hug a few trees and get a life.
I believe that Costco treat their employees fairly and I applaud them for that. At the same time, I think every company needs to be looking at ways to reduce their environmental footprint, and Costco are no exception.
I’m off to hug a few trees then, or maybe I’ll make that people.
Each of them has a roof the size of a football field and they could all be making a contribution to solving the problem instead of thinking they can brainwash us by telling us how “green” they are.
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