Government tackles Greenwash (does that include its own spin?)

Not a specifically IT-related missive but given the amount of greenwash sloshing around the tech sector, IT companies should take notice.

Defra has just announced that its recruited a steering group to help update its green claims code:

"The code was devised to assist businesses to advertise their green products and services with confidence and help protect consumers from bogus or inaccurate claims" Defra claims.

Seems the code hasn't been update since 2003 - well before the world went crazy for green. The downturn means much of that buzz has been dampened down, with more focus on economics and cost-cutting that environmental altruism but anything that makes companies think twice before pumping out greenwash can't be bad.

The current steering group includes:

The current members of the steering group include:

Advertising Standards Authority Advertising Association BERR BRC CBI Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Chartered Institute of PR (CIPR) COI Consumer Focus DFT Forum for the Future Institute for Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) ISBA (Voice of British Advertisers) OFT Sustainable Development commission

Be good to see some environmental campaigners in that list.