The Great Greenwashing by John Pabon

If you’re like me and you highlight passages that really resonate with you as you read, be sure to buy a value pack of highlighters for John Pabon’s excellent book, The Great Greenwashing.

Part One covers what greenwashing is with fairly broad strokes, over the course of three chapters, and explains what will be covered in the rest of the book. Pabon gives very clear examples (with references to sources) that very quickly point out the ways in which a very few corporations control, and profit from, the vast array of products consumers have to choose from — and how they dupe us into believing they’re eco-friendly (and how, for the most part, their so-called eco-friendliness is just their own marketing departments making stuff up).

Pabon writes in a language that is straightforward, easy to understand, and shows quite plainly his own feelings on the subject of greenwashing for profit. For example, Part Two, Chapter Four opens with “corporations have a pretty shit reputation when it comes to sustainability.” Which, yeah, they really do, and I appreciate the candour of Pabon just saying that and not couching things in polite and vague language.

I like that the book works from the macro to the micro in terms of looking at corporate and public sectors, and then at individual influences and influencers, and then finally at what we might do in our own lives and actions to see where we can do better.

The Great Greenwashing will be a useful reference on the days I am foolish enough to engage with corporate fanboys online, but also a good way to remind myself to think critically about what I purchase and from whom, as I move through the world as a consumer living under capitalism. As Pabon puts it: “reading between the lines and identifying when companies, politicians, and individuals are lying to you will go a long way towards ending greenwashing.”

If you buy things from stores, you should read this book …

If you buy things from stores, you should read this book to make purchases that support actual sustainability rather than products that are essentially applause for clever marketing.

JOHN PABON is a globally recognised expert in sustainability. He has worked with the United Nations, McKinsey, A.C. Nielsen, and as a consultant with BSR, the world’s largest sustainability-focused business network. Pabon is a regular commentator on CNN, EuroNews, and ABC, and is the Chair of The Conference Board’s Asia Sustainability Leaders Council, a member of the United Nations Association of Australia, and serves on the board of advisors to the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce. Originally from Southern California, Pabon currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his partner and their fussy Shiba Inu.

Publisher: House of Anansi Press (March 12 2024)
Language: English
Paperback 6″ x 9″ | 296 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4870-1286-1

Mara McTavish

Mara McTavish hails from Kjipuktuk, Miꞌkmaꞌki (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and is a writer of poems, short stories, and sometimes technical things; she’s also an avid knitter, reader, and drawer of snarky little stick people comics. You can follow her on Instagram @mara.e.mctavish. (www.instagram.com/mara.e.mctavish/)