Sorry, Oprah, but it's called "Green Washing".

It is inevitable. As the popularity of something increases so does the risk that the unscrupulous will join the parade without integrity. What am I yakking about? Greenwashing.

Looking around I have mixed feelings when I see Clorox touting their care for the earth and little, sweet frogs in particular. Yes, it definitely better than the alternative; standard clorox fills the earth with chlorine. Somehow though I am still left wishing that I could believe it was more than financially motivated.

Of course, it is better to have mainstream greener choices available. Yes, even though I can't imagine shopping there, it is a good thing that Wal-Mart wants to make a name as the Green Retailer. But sometimes these types of green movements are exposed for exactly what they are, attempts to capitalize on the attention given to the real issues of the environment to stay trendy and topical.

Case in point. Oprah had an Earth Day episode this week, of course she did. Now I need to pause here and say that I generally like Oprah. I find that even though her passion for spreading personal empowerment and positive action can be extremely sappy, it is generally a good thing. Yet, I was very dismayed to find O exposing herself as a faux environmentalist on Earth Day. Here's the poop. Oprah had Julia Roberts on, along with the author of Gorgeously Green to discuss the importance of composting. What you won't find on her sanctioned site is her saying things like "that is completely disgusting, I'm not going there with you." in response to the compost bin. You also won't see her "compost queen" screaming when she opens the lid to the worm farm to find (GASP!) worms. Of course, those telling tidbits won't be seen on the Oprah web site, but they were there if you saw the episode. Sad. I found it to be the perfect example of doing the right thing for the wrong reason. What is the effect of Oprah declaring composting "icky"? Seeing how see influences behavior it might have canceled out the entire show! Bummer.

Who is your most favorite faux-environmentalist?