Don’t get me wrong. Any company that uses a lot of water in its business – and Coke uses 300bn litres a year – should be encouraged to consume less. And we should not necessarily decry their efforts, even if they are less than perfect.
What concerns me is that phrase “water neutral”. The company has been using it widely in the 18 months since its hook-up with WWF – notably during the Olympic Games in Beijing, the water-stressed city where Coca Cola was a major event sponsor.
What does the phrase mean? Speaking at WWF's annual meeting last year, Coke's chairman Neville Isdell said it meant the company “pledged to replace every drop of water we use in our beverages and their production: to achieve balance in communities and in nature.” The goal, he admitted, is “aspirational”. But it is also extremely hard to pin down.
2. Even the best-intentioned ecotravelers may not be getting what they pay for. As ecotourism grows in popularity, hoteliers are eager to cash in and slap a green label on everything, deserved or not, to draw visitors. The practice, which extends beyond the travel industry, is called “greenwashing,” and it is extremely pervasive—a recent study by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing found that 99 percent of all products labeled as “green” do not live up to their claims.
The problem lies in the definition of ecotourism and in the different interpretations of what it means to be green. Self-appointed “ecoresorts” run the gamut from accommodations that leave absolutely no carbon footprint to those that merely use energy-efficient light bulbs.
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