Notes from the edge of civilization: Nov. 5, 2023
Greenwashing; Questioning government; And, the threat from BRICS.
Tik Tok-er Tanner Leatherstein has nearly a million followers and 10 million likes on his videos about leather products. He purchases and takes apart luxury items like Christian Louboutin shoes and Louis Vuitton purses to show viewers how, and with what materials, they are actually made. This helps consumers understand whether they are getting value for money or just a lot of hype.
Recently, he took apart a handbag from Coachtopia, a new sub-brand from Coach that aims at the eco-friendly market.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Coachtopia claims to “accelerate our transition towards a circular economy in fashion” by “crafting our products from recycled, repurposed or renewable materials and designing them to live multiple lives with clear pathways for takeback, reuse or recycling.”
While vague, it all sounds promising and positive — taking leather waste and upcycling it into new products instead of sending it to a landfill. Unfortunately, Tanner Leatherstein’s dissection discovered the product was mostly plastic, with small leather particles glued here and there.
This is a classic example of greenwashing — when companies make false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of their products or practices.
Government regulators are increasingly pushing back on this sort of deceptive marketing, which also sounds vaguely promising and positive. However, as we pointed out in a story on Collapse Life this week, there’s reason to be skeptical of the regulators as well.
These battles against greenwashing could simply lead to pyrrhic victories, where high-profile cases are pursued for their public relations and political value, all the while delivering very little positive impact on the environment. Governments may spend inordinate amounts of their limited resources on policing marketing claims just to garner clout with voters.
READ MORE:
Greenwashing certainly makes you wonder about all the rhetoric and lip service given to government climate initiatives. When we are told repeatedly that climate change is an ‘existential’ threat, wouldn’t it make sense for our leaders to take immediate and decisive action? If so, how are we supposed to make sense of announcements like the recent one from Canada’s Justin Trudeau, who said “We’re doubling down on our fight against climate change” by pausing the carbon tax on home heating oil for three years? Wasn’t the carbon tax one of the pinnacles of Canada’s plan to fight global warming? Similarly, how do you square immediate action against an existential threat with Indonesia’s recent decision to exempt private coal-fired power plants from its plan to decarbonize its power sector? The answer, it seems, is that governments can’t be trusted. But that’s not exactly breaking news…
”You should never trust your government,” says Christine Anderson, a German member of the European Parliament. “That’s what democracy is all about. You always question your government. And you always look for ulterior motives.”
Watch her whole interview with
here:
Always question your government. Always look for ulterior motives. Wise words at all times, but especially in the turbulent times we currently find ourselves in. Diverting our eyes is not an option. We must keep them focused and try to understand the changes taking place. That’s why we started
and we hope you are finding the information useful. If you’re not already a subscriber, please sign up today. If you are, please share this post with others and ask them to subscribe. And lastly, if you deem our journalism worthy, we would be incredibly grateful for your monetary support so we can keep doing what we’re doing.Our very first story, just 10 short weeks ago, was about a meeting of countries that are gathering together to counteract Western influence.
We think it’s important to understand this group of emerging markets and their ever-increasing influence because the decisions they make and the trade deals they sign have a very real impact on our lives here in North America.
Our guest on next week’s Collapse Life podcast, the incomparable
, does a great job of helping us understand what those impacts are and why they matter.