On Greenwashing

I suppose if one does not know what the term Greenwashing means they must be living in a cave, that said here is a definition. Greenwashing is the act, typically done by large corporations, of glorifying minor improvements to an entity's environmental footprint while still causing major damage to the planet. For example a coal fired generating plant spends thousands of dollars promoting the fact that they now recycle their office waste paper. One would say, the plant operators are greenwashing their record.

What does greenwashing and cycling have in common? Well to name one very specific example, Brookfield property management.

Let me explain.

As regular readers of my blog already know, I ride to work, rain or shine. The fact is my bike is my primary mode of transportation, no matter if I am fetching the groceries, performing an after hours repair of a server, or just out for a joy ride, if movement is involved there is a high probability that one of my loyal steeds will be there turning my muscle power into clean green transportation. As regular readers also know, I changed jobs recently.

Now I really like my current employer, the work is good, the pay is good, people are more relaxed, my co-workers know how to laugh and we are treated with respect and dignity by our executives. In short I am happy to have made the move, I have no regrets, almost. You see at my old job I was allowed to bring my bike on the elevator to a secure storage inside the building. As a result I rode some very expensive bikes to work and the worst thing that ever happened to my rides happened while I was on the saddle. At my new job things are very different. My new employer has no problem with the notion of me bringing my ride right into the office space, there is unused space here; however, the property manager has a slightly different attitude.

While it is completely acceptable for people to lug what must be a sixty or seventy pound wheeled suitcase (with a retail value of perhaps $50) into the elevator, I can no more bring my 19 pound, forty five hundred dollar steed up to the office than a person on a wheel chair can climb the stairs. I should point out here, that those same elevators that I am not allowed to bring my ride on have small LCD TVs that proclaim Brookfield's commitment to the environment through their proud diversion of waste and energy savings. (The fact that they pay by the ton for garbage removal and by the kilowatt for energy consumed is just a happy coincidence.)

This begs an important question, how do the disabled get around inside this building? Clearly bringing a dirty wheelchair that has been rolling around on the muddy sidewalks and across roads would present a huge cleaning effort, how on Earth would the cleaners cope? My goodness the cleaners would have it as bad as their colleges who had to clean up after I rode home from my old job. (Yes I used the elevator to access my secure storage there. I never once in the two years I rode had any problems with the building security or cleaners.)

I fear the problem is ultimately that the person who made the decision not to allow bikes wears a uniform and has a lousy pay. This is quite possibly the only chance he has to give me marching orders so guess what. Or equally possible, it is easier for him to say no, saying yes has the slight risk of getting into trouble.

To my readers I can only say this, if you are ever presented with a choice, avoid Brookfield, they do residential and commercial and as far as I am concerned they don't do people, that is to say their customers, right.