12.15.2011

2 Mother Nature's Fuel

On the way to work today I stopped to get some gas and this is what was on the pump. Okay this first picture is mine but I had to take it from the comfort of my car on the DL because the employee in the booth was giving me the stink eye (and because it isn't safe to use your cellphone whilst fueling your vehicle).

 Also, seriously rain in December - COME ON MOTHER NATURE!!! 

No you are not alone...I can't make out what it says either. So here is a clearer picture that I got from Google.


::blank stare::

Mother Nature's Fuel??? Notice the green leaves too...those are there so that you will think that this gas is eco-friendly. So why are such claims being made? Well the claim is that the fuel is blended with ethanol that comes from surplus grain and that fuel that contains plant bases reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Great that sounds awesome right! Sure but reading further I found out that the maximum amount of ethanol in the fuel is 10% meaning the other 90+% is coming from places like the Tar Sands and I am pretty sure Mother Nature is hella pissed about that project.  Keep in mind that most provinces have regulations in place that mandate that producers put ethanol into their fuel anyways.

::more blank stares::

I'm all for making fuel burn more efficiently so that we do not create as many emissions while we try to find a way to stop our reliance on oil in the first place. And if that means adding more ethanol than what is mandated then that is fantastic but be clear with your branding and marketing. Don't change your colour to green (pumps used to be blue and red), add some leafs and throw in a catchy name to make people they are buying something that they aren't. Because what they aren't buying is a sustainable solution and they certainly aren't buying something Mother Nature would be proud to have her name on.

What Green Washing have you seen lately?

Related Posts - Check them Out
Green Product Labeling
The Impact of Pop
I feel like I have been duped

2 comments:

  1. Oh that kills me. I have been homebound these past 5 weeks, but have been reading a lot about food labeling here in the U.S. and just how deceptive it all really is. That has me steaming lately.

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  2. Food labeling is just plain horrible. I find it eye opening talking to people in industry. Like did you know that they can not guarantee that milk (or milk products) are really organic? Not sure what the rules are down there but they only have to be a certain % to be considered organic here (30% of something dumb like that).

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