Get the latest delivered to your inbox
Privacy Policy

Now Reading

Dow Chemical Greenwashing Campaign Exposed

Watch the Video America's Largest Chemical Maker Doesn't Want You to See

Dow Chemical Greenwashing Campaign Exposed

Watch the Video America's Largest Chemical Maker Doesn't Want You to See

Published 06-07-11

Submitted by Small Planet Institute

When a Dow Chemical PR firm asked author Anna Lappé to contribute a video about the future of water for Dow's flashy new "virtual conference" called "The Future We Create," she was delighted to provide them with exactly what they had asked for.

In her 60-second submission, Lappé stressed that toxic chemicals are one of the biggest global threats to water and people, and that Dow itself is one of the biggest sources of such threats. The PR company swiftly rejected the video, but they didn't give up: they asked Lappé to record a new video. "Dow, as a huge corporation with resources, is sponsoring that ["Future We Create"] effort, which you have to admit is pretty cool," the PR firm wrote to Lappé.

"What would be pretty cool," Lappé replied, "would be if the company put even a fraction of the resources it spends on marketing into cleaning up communities whose water it has polluted."

Lappé has launched her rejected video on a YouTube channel that also includes videos from the public about the future they'd like to create.

At the same time Dow launches their "virtual conference," the company is actively fighting multiple lawsuits from communities -- including Dow's own hometown of Midland, Michigan -- alleging the company has polluted their water. More information on Dow's history of water contamination, and on organizations fighting for clean water, is available at www.afuturewecreate.com.

"The future we should be creating is one in which no one has to worry about whether the water they drink is tainted by carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, or neurotoxins manufactured by Dow," said Lappé.

The Yes Lab, a project of The Yes Men that helps activist groups carry out creative media actions, assisted Lappé in developing her response.

For more information or interviews, please contact Anna Lappé, Small Planet Institute, 917-476-4896, anna@smallplanet.org (website: www.smallplanet.org).

To view Anna Lappé's oped article "What Dow Chemical Doesn't Want You to Know About Your Water," please click here.


Anna Lappé is a leading expert on sustainability and a national bestselling author, most recently of Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It. She is a founding principal of the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund and an active board member of Rainforest Action Network.
Small Planet Institute logo

Small Planet Institute

Small Planet Institute

Small Planet Institute

More from Small Planet Institute

Join today and get the latest delivered to your inbox