'I love Hong Kong! I love green!' was the slogan in a series of government publicity programmes promoting greener lifestyle a few years back. This idea has been continued in the recent local green tide demaning a better environment.
The word 'green' has become a fashion - green can sell. Green products and services, no matter how green they really are, help instil psychological comfort into people's minds when they buy them. Now it appears that even a small bit of green can boost a company's social profile as a fulfilment of its corporate social responsibility.
Companies are advocating simpler food packaging, using electrical appliances with greater energy efficiency and optimising air-conditioning in their offices. These are environmentally-friendly moves in terms of resources and energy saving. They are indeed doing some good, but companies should be cautiously viewed as a whole before we raise our hands in applause.
We should not hear of banks glorifying their conversion of mailing monthly bills to e-statements as a green achievement on one hand, while delivering mass circulars to all households advertising mortgage products on the other.
Such two-faced practices only raise questions about a company's pledge to go green. Consumers sooner or later recognise such hypocrisy, which only damages a company's image.
There are many cases of probable environmental damage in the name of going green. The feverish rush to buy bags tagged 'I am not a plastic bag' displayed how people can overreact to the trend of eco-luxury. This seeking of prestige, which caused unnecessary consumption of these bags, sent a message that was the opposite of the meaning of going green.