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High-profile New Zealand furniture designer David Trubridge is at the centre of a spat with the design community over "greenwashing".
The term refers to the practice of companies devoting more attention and money to marketing themselves as "green" than on measures that actually help the environment.
Auckland designer Rory Bladen, 27, sparked a heated online exchange with Trubridge when he questioned whether the latest Trubridge collection of seating and lights was really as "environmentally responsible as possible" as claimed on the American design website inhabitat.com.
"My main issue is whether any new product at all can be described as 'eco' or environmental - especially when the product is non-essential, or for a non-existent purpose," Bladen wrote on the New Zealand design forum butterflynet.co.nz.
Trubridge's Spiral Island collection was praised by inhabitat.com for "mimicking the organic forms of the island in eco-sensitive style".
The products use recyclable material, so "the entire seat can be deconstructed for ease of recycling at the end of its lifespan".
Bladen thought this claim absurd: "Excuse me? When was the last time you threw out an expensive designer light or seat and thought, 'Oh bother, I wish this would fit in my recycling bin'."
He also questioned the eco-validity of using timber shipped from Australia, hydro-electric sources for manufacturing and sending waste to separate recycling facilities, and was sceptical of Trubridge's excuse for using oil-based plastic in lights while he "waited for PLA plastic to become available in sheet form".
"Don't even consider buying this light," Bladen suggested. "It's not essential, and the planet will thank you for not buying it."
Trubridge responded that the criticism was an example of "nasty and unnecessary vindictiveness" from "the sackcloth Luddite who sits on the sidelines and criticises at will".
But he acknowledged that the criticism of greenwash was justified.
"I despair of some of the advertising claims and hype we see."
Trubridge, from Hawkes Bay, said it came down to a question of degree.
"Nothing is truly green. The dilemma we face is addressing these issues and finding a balance."
Bladen, meanwhile, says he is surprised at the level of response his article provoked.
"It's good for a designer to know that his message is maybe being viewed with scepticism from consumers."
