Greenwash Watch: Victoria's Secret
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.23.07
It's hot in Charleston, South Carolina; Chad Norman of Go Green Charleston went to the mall and found that the Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body Works both had their doors wide open. He asked the managers if they knew about it; they responded "Of course they did, and even mentioned that they were asked to prop them open. The bottom line is that Limited Brands management is telling store/shift managers to leave exterior doors open on hot days in order to entice shoppers into the store." Chad notes on ::Hugg that " This outdated marketing tactic can eat up to 25% of a store's energy usage, and simply has no place in 2007."
This is, of course the same company whose President says “I believe companies like ours should be a source for good. For us. For our communities. For the world.” and whose environmental stewardship policy says "Interwoven throughout every step is our commitment to:...Conserve energy and preserve natural resources"
Congratulations to ::Go Green Charleston for exposing this hypocrisy and greenwashing. via ::Hugg
Earlier on TreeHugger: ::Victoria's Secret Catalogue goes Green. Sort of.
British Supermarket Bans Unsustainable Palm Oil
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New Museum Head Says Lower Population Would Cut CO2 at Fraction of Renewable Energy Cost
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but are the doors still open?
This is almost like every McDonalds I see who is watering the lawn at 12NOON. How ridiculous!
It would be great if this article had a link to email Limited Brands or at least a link to the Limited Brands customer relations site.
This can't continue, not with oil at the current price. Small businesses in NY are turning off their a/c more and more. They just can't pay for it.
'Roots' does the same in Toronto. Here are a few words from their web site:
"In recent years, Roots has been a supporter of myriad actions in Toronto and further a field. Roots is an original sponsor of the City of Toronto's annual Environmental Awards of Excellence (which we again sponsored in 2006). These Awards honour leading companies, organizations and individuals contributing to the greening of the city. This year, the Roots-initiated Stop Global Warming bracelet fund-raising campaign surpassed $100,000 donated to a US-based ecological organization StopGlobalWarming.org that is spearheading action on the issue."
http://www.roots.com/index.php?/canada/content/view/524/195/lang,en/
Really Diane? I hadn't noticed. Which location is doing this? Maybe I'll go down and give them a piece of my mind, rather than a piece of my wallet.
I work at Victoria's Secret and in the past year we have made a lot of changes in order to "go green." Such as recycling and reusing store bags, limiting tissue paper usage, we are now even making shirts out of 100% organic cotton. We have done so much to promote healthy habits. Every store gets bulletins with tips on how to be eco-friendly. And none of this is advertised or publicized, its not a selling tactic. Just because two stores in NC prop their doors open doesn't mean our company is using up the earth's resources.