How should Huddler deal with greenwashed products?

So as many of you know...here on Huddler, we have an open product addition system.  That means anyone who registers on the site can add any product they like.  Of course, while we do list out inclusion criteria on each product category page, some of the products added don't always fit.  And some of them...dare I say it...are pretty clearly greenwashed.

What do you think we should do about that?  Would you rather see those deleted out of the database?  Or left in to potentially be reviewed with all of a half star to help show which companies are touting themselves as green but really aren't?  Or do you have another idea?

Thanks so much for all your feedback!

Happy Fourth of July,

Cristina

I think it would be okay to leave them in the system, because that's potentially a good way for people to learn that the product is indeed greenwashing - assuming somebody reviews it as such.

Another option would be to have some sort of 'potential greenwashing' tag.  If somebody thinks a product may be greenwashing, they can add the tag.  If another person disagrees, they can remove the tag.  If there's disagreement, perhaps the Huddler staff could make the final decision.

Otherwise, maybe there can be a little "greenwashing" vote, same as the thumbs up on here.  The more people who say it's a greenwashed product, the more votes it garners.

It would be nice if you could somehow do it as a low or high greenwash score.  Some products are much worse offenders than others.

I like this idea.

What if we don't really know if a product is "greenwashed" or not?  I'm kinda scared to post products in case they are "fakes". 

If you don't know then you wouldn't have to rate it, but this would be a good way to learn.

Thanks Dana.  I'll start posting again and see if I made good choices.

There could be issues with downright deleting - a vote a good solution - or maybe an additional star rating from "Very Green" to "Greenwashing" for posters, plus a vote for viewers next to the "was this helpful" thumb.   Perhaps there could be a "Greenwashing Flag" that could be a button that puts it on a list for the Huddler staff to review - since you all have so much access to a wide range of industry info, your staff could perhaps make the final call on tagging a "Possible Greenwashing Alert" to the item (blinking green/red sign would be kinda catchy :-)  ...  anyway, just my $.02.

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks!  We'll keep working on a good solution, but for the moment, we'll stay away from categorical deletion.

I like the idea of being able to vote for greenwashing.

I think that a system like that would increase the community participation, and gives a user an idea of whether others think a product has been greenwashed. I feel that is important because greenwashing is a continuum. Some people might be outraged, while another might be glad that a company offers a 'greener' product. Kind of like Ford offering a hybrid SUV that gets TWENTY FOUR MPG!!! ;)

I think voting for green washing is a good idea too. also, I have already a bit, but i'm sure other members have more "reviewed" products i know that are greenwashed, like method. I try to stick to ones that i have tried so it's a valid review, but I don't know how long that will last if certain products get added to the site.

I also agree that voting for greenwashing is a good idea. I have my share of reviewed products that are not that "green". Maybe a tab where people can enter specific information as to why a product is greenwashed would be helpful. A site like this is the best place for people to get valuable and specific information about products.

So just a little update on this...

Definitely hear you on the voting thing.  We're thinking of building a little voting box where you can vote a product up or down in terms of it's green factor.  Then...depending on what the vote count is, we'll automatically throw a message at the top of the page (similar to the "This product has not been released" message like on the Chevy Volt page) that warns folks of possible greenwashing. 

Reactions?

I like it.

I like it too.