, ▁cont ributes ▁to ▁consumer ▁ske ptic ism ▁of ▁all ▁green ▁claims , ▁and ▁dimin ishes ▁the ▁power ▁of ▁the ▁consumer ▁in ▁driving ▁companies ▁toward ▁gre ener ▁solutions ▁for ▁manufact uring ▁processes ▁and ▁business ▁operations . ▁Many ▁corpor ate ▁structures ▁use ▁green w ash ing ▁as ▁a ▁way ▁to ▁repair ▁public ▁per ception ▁of ▁their ▁brand . ▁The ▁struct uring ▁of ▁corpor ate ▁dis closure ▁is ▁often ▁set ▁up ▁so ▁as ▁to ▁maxim ize ▁per ception s ▁of ▁legit im acy . ▁However , ▁a ▁growing ▁body ▁of ▁social ▁and ▁environmental ▁account ing ▁research ▁finds , ▁in ▁the ▁absence ▁of ▁external ▁monitoring ▁and ▁ver ification , ▁green w ash ing ▁strateg ies ▁amount ▁to ▁corpor ate ▁post uring ▁and ▁de ception . ▁ ▁Us age ▁The ▁term ▁green w ash ing ▁was ▁co ined ▁by ▁New ▁York ▁environmental ist ▁Jay ▁West er vel t ▁in ▁a ▁ 1 9 8 6 ▁ess ay ▁regarding ▁the ▁hotel ▁industry ' s ▁practice ▁of ▁placing ▁pla cards ▁in ▁each ▁room ▁prom oting ▁reuse ▁of ▁to w els ▁ost ens ibly ▁to ▁" save ▁the ▁environment ." ▁West er vel t ▁noted ▁in ▁most ▁cases , ▁little ▁or ▁no ▁effort ▁toward ▁reducing ▁energy ▁waste ▁was ▁being ▁made ▁by ▁these ▁institutions — as ▁ev iden ced ▁by ▁the ▁lack ▁of ▁cost ▁reduction ▁this ▁practice ▁effect ed . ▁West er vel t ▁op ined ▁the ▁actual ▁objective ▁of ▁this ▁" green ▁campaign " ▁on ▁the ▁part ▁of ▁many ▁hotel iers ▁was , ▁in ▁fact , ▁increased ▁profit . ▁West