See this wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwash

And this entry http://www.howstuffworks.com/greenwashing.htm

The public are perceptive and will pick up on many of these greenwashing messages, but truly people are busy and don't have time to research and verify each and every claim that corporations are using. And those corporations have huge budgets and entire departments dedicated to getting their message across. What can be done?

1. Educate the public about greenwashing so these marketing messages are less effective and less attractive to corporate marketeers. By exposing those messages.

2. Notify corporations that their greenwashing messages have been heard, analyzed and rejected. Encouraging them to make real change rather than talking about it.

3. Persuade governing bodies to regulate and restrict the abuse of greenwashing since it is essentially a deceptive practice that entices customers to make choices not based on a real benefit.

4. Encourage all people to disregard "rhetoric" and to pursue real environmental progress.

Interested? Lets get started.

I am welcoming volunteers to do the following:

1. Identify existing greenwash education efforts that are underway (why re-invent the wheel if someone out there has a perfectly good wheel).

2. Post occurences of greenwash which the public should know about.

3. Strategize around which governing bodies should be contacted to improve their response to greenwash.

4. Complete a strategy for notifying companies that their greenwash is not acceptable.

(Yes we are at the beginning here, but with a little collaboration and a few tools we can make a very real difference.)

Drop my a line at greenwash2008@gmail.com

Understand this people, this is just pure business. Beauty competitions, in reality, are incredible marketing strategy. What these competitions primarily do is cream out the best "talented" pretty girls and manufacture them into a sellable entity into the world of advertisement, entertainment, and glamour. The organizers and sponsors are only looking for those girls who can propel the product value in the market and increase the sale. And this is a global phenomenon in this consumerist-modern world driven by mass media.

That is the crux of the matter. The organizers, nonetheless, have been shaping and painting distorted pictures calling these competitions as the platform to explore talents, to develop personality or to polish leadership. Blah blah bhah. These are all cover-ups.

The girls who compete in the beauty competitions know these all too. They don't look that stupid not to knowing what they are up for - they surely can figure out if they are being exploited. Have we ever seen any grumpy faced ladies in the competitions yet?

If the organizers and sponsors present this truth clearly, half of the nay sayers would already turn supportive. They must say – this is not a "talent" competition; this is a "beauty" competition for business promotion. This is not a science quiz competition, nor a sports competition, nor a poem competition.

The organizers should discreetly delete "Nepal" from the title and re-name the competitions as "Miss Advertisement" and have further sub-categories like "Miss Hoarding Board", "Miss Shampoo", "Miss Tooth Brush", "Miss Skin" or "Miss Long Legs". Problem solved!

The competing ladies too, should quit making BIG statements like they would develop the nation or they would contribute to the society or they are fighting for women emancipation. Cut all the crap and why not just say, they want to be famous. They want to be on television, music videos and glamour websites and become "goodwill ambassador". (What the hell is that anyways?) They want to adorn hoarding boards in the streets. And yeah, if the career in "media" does not prove fruitful, they want to exploit the limelight into opening up doors of opportunities and excel in their other desired careers – like for instance, working in top INGOs and NGOs.

Pursuit of happiness – that's it. Listen up women activists, there's nothing wrong if some girls get clever and make their way to lavish careers, is there?

However, the women activists are also the half of the problem. They gather up in their little groups and shout and demonstrate only when the "beauty" contest called "Miss Nepal" is nearing. They are also indignant that the contest does not represent the girls from all the classes/society of the whole nation, and the competing girls are sexually and physically exploited by the organizers, and that "Miss Nepal" brings western vulgar culture into the country.

Well, their point of view seems to be genuine, however they really don't sound convincing at all. How can a single competition represent every single girl from all the class/race/community of the country? This is the 15th time, the organizers are holding this annual event and never once have anyone heard any complains of "sexual harassments and exploitations".

And, is Miss Nepal the sole contributor to bringing western vulgarity into our society? Look at the music videos of Nepali Hip-hoppers and Remake Artists (I refuse calling them Remix artists – but that's a different story) with girls – who seem perfectly happy with their self-portrayal of majestic sluts. Our women activists seem to enjoy that, don't they?

What more, some women Constituent Assembly members and women activists met with the newly crowned Prime Minister of Republic Nepal – Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" and demanded the government banish the  Miss Nepal contest. See: Nepalnews.com

What a racket!

If there are problems, just like these women activists see it, should not they be working through out the year trying to find real solutions rather than just making an opportunistic move and stirring up some heat to gain some free publicity?

Like I said, these women activists, super drenched in their righteousness, ARE half of the problem themselves.

Anyways, I would completely enjoy watching the upcoming beauty contest. (Not that I really "enjoy" the telecast of the show itself, which is usually a cheap second rate ripped off version of international beauty contests with some chunks of Nepali-ness thrown in here and there – with the girls trying to look relaxed and cool with their weird catwalks and make ups... shit, you know what, I really hate the presentation.) It would be interesting to see which one of the "crowned talents" would replace the former "queens" on the television, magazine covers, hoarding boards (especially, the one at Thapathali Chowk), fashion ramps, music videos, ATM booths, oil-packets ...... after some months.

Hi,

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