Philips: from zero to hero
Sometimes, the story inside the office is sooooo much richer than the official news.
Yesterday, I walked over to the coffee machine to see one of our Toxics campaigners tanking up on caffeine he clearly didn't need. He was practically Tigger-like in his bounce.
"We won against Philips!" he whoo-whoo-whoo-whooed. "And you would not have believed it. We've been talking for months about how they could get us off their backs, and we thought we had an agreement. Then on Saturday night they showed us what they were planning to release and it was terrible -- they had backed out of three key points."
So across the weekend, Greenpeace and Philips went mano-a-mano. We were working out the terms under which we'd be willing to stop harassing them for lobbying for the status quo on e-waste. That would be the business-as-usual scenario that has led to the poisoning of the developing world with electronic waste. They were looking to do just enough that we'd start praising them as heroes -- even if we had to brush off the hero, twist their arm, shove them into the field of action, and tell them what to do.
But at the end of the day, they did the right thing. If all companies responded this way, the world would be a far better place. Sometimes, they need activists on their back, because in a world in which planetary costs don't figure in the balance sheet, the bottom line doesn't always drive them toward doing the right thing.
When we first crossed (non violent) swords with Philips on e-waste policy in November 2007 we were taking on a pretty entrenched opponent. This wasn't just a company who didn't have a policy, or simply didn't communicate their position. Philips was the leading promoter of a fixed fee consumers should pay for recycling. Philips had experts on this, academic studies to back up their stance, a business model built on this position and lobbied the hardest of all companies to maintain the current systems of e-waste recycling that have lead to huge amounts of toxic e-waste dumping. We were challenging their entire business model. The fact that Philips has performed a almost 180 degree turn in little over a year is testament to the public power of campaigning.
And this is a side of Greenpeace that very few people see:
The Greenpeace that sits down at a table with Coca Cola and gets them to agree to stop using climate-killing chemicals in their refrigeration. The Greenpeace that sits down with McDonalds and gets them to stop killing the Amazon by encouraging soy farmers to clear the rainforest. The Greenpeace that gets harangued by Steve Jobs in interviews for making unreasonable demands on Apple, and then agrees to do precisely what we've asked. The Greenpeace that sometimes wins victories we can't even talk about, because they happen behind closed doors.
When our ships and activists are chaining themselves to things, drawing the public spotlight onto a company for doing wrong, that's the story the press covers. But quite often, there's also someone putting on the most unexpected costume a Rainbow Warrior could ever wear: a suit and tie, and striding into a board room to stop an environmental crime.
And when a company like Philips actually listens, and changes, they may simply have crunched numbers and decided that the cost of fixing an environmentally unsound practice is less costly than the public relations damage of being in a negative spotlight. But once they change, their reasons for doing so no longer matter. The result is a win for the planet, and for generations to come.
Every time we buy a product, we vote for that product. It's up to all of us to remember the power we have as consumers, because corporations will never act against their perceived economic interests. We all need to ensure that when a company isn't behaving responsibly, they feel the heat -- as Philips did from forty-seven thousand of you who wrote to them to demand they do better.
And when a company does the right thing, let's make sure they hear the praise. So here's to Philips: may other electronics manufacturers be as wise as they have been today, and follow their lead.
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Comments
I wasn't part of this victory, just climbed aboard, but I do have a thought. If Phillips was inundated with 47,000 emails in protest, wouldn't it be nice if there was at least some showing of support now that they've gotten the message? You know, show them how much their new policy is appreciated by the same folks who opposed the old one? Just a thought...
Peace,
Michael
Posted by: Michael Huff | February 27, 2009 6:15 PM
GREAT!
Posted by: Fatma D. | February 27, 2009 9:48 PM
Congratulations to all of you.
Indeed an important agreement.
A small but important remark: I dont' like the "We have won against them style", it's more "we have convinced them", for you had good arguments and excellent negotiators.
Super,
Koen
Posted by: Kun | February 27, 2009 10:18 PM
WOW CONGRATS!!!
Posted by: Naye | March 5, 2009 6:28 PM
The idea of "hiding" all CO2 in Oceans or any waters, and using seefloor and ground to spread/leave it beneth the surface.
The illusive "carbon capture journal" reports that the large Danish conglomerate A.P. Möller-Maersk Group is prepared to enter the CO2 transport market to help promote CCS. The intention is to take care of ½ of the Danish CO2 and other sourses around the "North Sea", abt. 0.8 Gtonnes of CO2 and put it below the sea-surface, underground, onshore or offshore? 15 handy-sized tankers of (20 000cbm)capacity will be used.
From the text of,
The senior vice president and head of Maersk Oil's "Carbon and Climate Department",
Mr. Michael Engell-Jensen
It seams to be a cowboy way to
turn the Climate to the Worse,
and all life to A Final End,
and the globe to A Gas-planet ready to explode into space-dust.
Do anyone really think that this is OK? The seas are more fragile than the air! And they are to 90% filled to the brim with CO2, already!
Do we have any alternative?Can they be charged for preparing for "genocide". Or for annihilation of all life-forms? Holocaust?
benny
Posted by: benny | March 15, 2009 11:22 AM