Dow Chemical Got Punked

When a PR firm for Dow Chemical asked Diet for a Hot Planet author Anna Lappe to produce a 60 second film for the Future We Create Conference, she didn’t exactly supply the “greenwashing” video Dow had hoped for.

Instead, she submitted this surprise video stating the following: "The future we should be creating is one in which everyone has access to clean water. No one should worry whether their water is tainted with endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, or neurotoxins -- produced by Dow or any of the country's other biggest chemical manufacturers. Dow has the power, and resources, to do more than create a faux "inclusive conversation" about water sustainability. The company should discontinue its most toxic products and pay to clean up communities it has contaminated. Until it does, I will not be complicit in its greenwashing."

Dow, the world’s second largest chemical manufacturer, is notorious for their greenwashing campaigns. Despite an atrocious environmental record as one of the top polluters of air and water, they take pains to sponsor such events like Earth Day and Blue Planet Run. After the deadly leak of chemicals in Bhopal, India killed more than 20,000 people in 1984, Dow Chemical abandoned the site, refusing to clean it up.

Lappe is respected for her work on sustainability, food politics, globalization, and social change. She has been named one of Time’s “Eco Who’s-Who,” and is a founding principal of the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund. http://www.smallplanetfund.org/