The Sierra Club's Endorsement of Green Works Product Line by Clorox

Americans spent over $432 million on all-purpose cleaners in 2007. Clorox took home at least 41 percent of those consumer sales, even while sales of natural cleaning products has risen. So, now ask the question: what would Clorox do next? Our answer comes in December 2007 when Clorox announced the release of its Green Works line of household cleaners, endorsed with the Sierra Club's name and logo. We can see clearly what's in it for Clorox. So what's in it for the Sierra Club?

"We are supporting Green Works in hopes that more people will have access to these kinds of products, some of which aren't even available in the middle of the country," Sierra Club spokeswoman Orli Cotel explains. Clorox, I assume, would agree this is important. Availability of products is always important in the household cleaners market, whether they happen to be green or not. Has it become difficult to find vinegar and baking soda, two effectively green household cleaning agents, in the middle of the country? I had no difficultly locating various brands of both cleaning agents in many shopping location in the middle of the United States. I also had very little problem finding a plethora of other green household cleaners at prices comparable to Clorox Green Works on shopping trips while in Oklahoma and Kansas last month.

So why hasn't Sierra Club endorsed any of the already existing lines of green household cleaning products? Is Green Works a better, greener product than those formerly in existence? Sadly, it is not. According to the Sierra Club website, their goals are "to put affordable, green products in the hands of millions of people and to encourage major manufacturing companies to green their product lines." Sierra Club believes that "the natural cleaning products made by smaller companies are not widely available and are not priced low enough to be considered a viable alternative for many mainstream American consumers."

Green Works products claim to be 99% natural. Their all purpose cleaner is stated to include essential lemon oil, corn based ethanol, filtered water, glycerin, and a coconut based cleaning agent-which can all be naturally derived. The other one percent that isn't naturally derived includes the preservative kathon and colorant. "We hope we are transforming the marketplace by doing this," said Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope. "These products are clean, they're green, they're not going to hurt you, and they're not going to hurt the environment."

While this sounds better than products that use more petrochemicals, upon taking a closer look Green Works might not be so green friendly. There's the major issue of rainforest habitat destruction due to the harvest of coconut oil, not to mention the issues with corn-based ethanol. Then there's kathon, which is restricted from sale outside of North America due to environmental regulations. Kathon has such potential health hazards of being irritating to skin, a risk of serious damage to the eyes, and may cause widespread dermatitis from skin contact in even small doses. Many of these side effects have been reported by individuals testing the Green Works product line in their homes.

In addition, the Clorox Company has a suspicious "environmentally safe" past with its bleach production line and its continual use of animal testing. Even if the Green Works product line is cruelty free, as both it and Sierra Club claims, does that make it okay for an environmental organization to endorse a product from a company that is known not to be?

The bottom line, according to the Sierra Club's website, is that "It is our chance to use the power of our name to create an opportunity for people to do the right thing that hasn't really existed before on a large scale. And that is a great opportunity for Sierra Club and for the planet." The true reason for Sierra Club's involvement might have something to do with Clorox's agreement to pay an undisclosed fee for the endorsement, based partly on product sales. A company with close to 50 percent of the consumer sales of a product can agree to pay an awful lot for an endorsement they feel will give them legitimacy. Joy Towles Ezell, former chairwoman of the Florida Sierra Club chapter, said that the new Clorox products should be named Money Works or Toxic Works. "Clorox is the bad guy to me," Ezell said. "You sell your soul when you get involved with something like that."

A product doesn't become green just because it has green in the name, is dyed to appear green, and comes with a recognizable environmentalist organization's endorsement on its label. "I would want to know exactly how the Sierra Club made its determination [to endorse Green Works]. Unless they are going to publish the standard that products have to meet [in order to get an endorsement], it sounds like a form of green washing," said Scot Case of TerraChoice Environmental Marketing.

Citations:

Orli Cotel, "Sierra Club Launches Partnership with Clorox's new Green Works Line", http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/releases/pr2008-01-15.asp

various, "Sierra Club and Clorox Green Works", http://www.treehugger.com