Green-washing, Pink-washing: Will the dirty laundry ever end?

Social responsibility is hot. Companies have done their homework and they know consumers are willing to shell out as much as 20% more on the purchase price if they perceive the company as socially responsible. How about that, we really do care about each other.

But what’s burning a whole in your wallet, health and belief in humankind are empty promises by companies exploiting your good intentions and lack of time to investigate every single product claim. Huh?

Believe it or not, those claiming to be “green” and now this month “pink” for breast cancer awareness aren’t always committed to the environment or erradicating cancer.

As a cancer survivor myself, I tend to avoid much of the cancer causes. That’s an entirely different blog post but I can’t support causes that many times, are perpetuating their existence. Buying M&Ms and plastic products that support breast cancer awareness is like giving an alcoholic alcohol. For those who don’t know, sugar and plastic both contribute to cancer. While there is a mystery why some people develop cancer and others don’t, there is no doubt about what contributes to it and anyone who tells you differently, is robbing you of your best chance at beating cancer: preventing it all together.

So now it seems even some benign cancer-causing products aren’t as rosy pink as we’ve been lead to believe. From fine print limiting donations to making you jump through hoops to get your donation where it belongs, find out if your money for breast cancer awareness is going where you think it’s going. Check out “Think Before You Pink” here.

And use that noggen to not only find out where your money is going but if it would be better spent on a pro-health cause like organic food or environmental clean-up. Then maybe we could eliminate this loop hole and breast cancer altogether.