Follow The Frog - brilliant commercial

[jonathan.bluestein]

[JusticeZero]

Wow, it hit on about a third of the points we were looking at in a certain anthropology course lately..

Yeah, the whole leadin with the guy arrogantly "living the gringo fantasy" is just as ridiculous as they made it out to be. on the other hand, most of those "buy green stuff" initiatives are vaporware.
Carbon offsets? Go to the pocketbooks of a bunch of scammers in the third world. On occasion they stick a tree in the ground to make a show of things, but the tree generally dies. "We've planted an entire forest in San Holinwall!" Back in San Holinwall, "Some gringos showed up once. We showed them a field of brush and said we planted trees. they clapped a lot. We clearcutted it the week after."
Actually, most of the "We sent money to Lower Wherethefeckistan to do good things" programs are like that. It enriches some jaded opportunists in Wherethefeckistan without having any real output. Really the thing to do is just to cut back on your consumption and start using more used or repaired stuff. Cut back on your hours and learn to fix your own stuff. Quit buying stuff to make yourself feel better - you can't consume your way to a non-consumption - and start doing stuff on your own.

[marqs]

I did some googling, as I'm interested in greenwashing in general and sorting out which ones of the ecological certifications actually do the most good.

Wikipedia said about the "Rainforest alliance certified"

Rainforest Alliance agricultural certification has been criticized by a range of academics and media sources. The Manchester Evening News notes that critics have dubbed the Rainforest Alliance "Fairtrade lite"[15] therefore offering companies such as Chiquita and Kraft a cheap way to tap into the ethical consumer market. This is known as greenwashing, as it allows companies and products to appear more ethical and environmentally friendly without actually being either. Alex Nicholls, professor of social entrepreneurship at Oxford University, called Rainforest Alliance certification "an easy option for companies looking for a "flash in the pan at a cheap price".[16] Beyond the price issue, Michael Conroy, an independent consultant on certification for sustainable development and chairman of the board of Transfair USA,[17] criticized Rainforest Alliance in his 2007 book Branded! for having "little tangible impact on the actual conditions under which work is done and workers are paid".[18]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforest_Alliance#Criticism_and_Response

The ad was still funny .

[Peacedog]

Great commercial.

If you really want to do something, start by no longer being a giant douche and pretending to care about crap that has nothing to do with you.

Don't follow the frog. Set up a business that employs other people, join the SEALs, or fix the broken window on the 90 year old neighbors house next to you.

Oh, and FYI, 85 to 90% of all water usage in the US is industrial or agricultural. You can let the water run in your shower all day. Your personal water usage is irrelevant. Now get off your over educated ass and go do something douche.

Rant ended....

[Michael]

Oh, and FYI, 85 to 90% of all water usage in the US is industrial or agricultural.

No, NO, NOO!!!! My inner control freak demands I take 3 minute cold showers and berate my family for not doing likewise in order to save the earth that I am destroying. It's all my fault.

[RobP2]