We live in an era of consumerism where most people want and seek out ethical options. Despite this, corporations haven’t fully committed to acting above board. It’s easier for companies to stretch the truth or even outright lie than to spend the money adjusting ethics. That’s a solid case of greenwashing and it’s a huge problem for sustainable initiatives and industry.
When you go to a store you’re likely to see numerous “green” and “ethical” products but, beyond surface-level, these products are anything but sustainable and ethical. Often there aren’t any metrics or solid backings to prove these claims. As a result, those products have effectively been greenwashed.
In simple terms, what is greenwashing?
Greenwashing is a form of advertising that uses misleading communication and marketing to persuade people into thinking an organization’s products, policies, or goals are environmentally responsible. Greenwashing deceptively presents an eco-friendly public image without providing concrete metrics of how it is so.
There aren’t a lot of legal definitions for many words used in marketing – such as natural, eco, green, and sustainable – making it easy to stretch the truth. Because these words aren’t regulated, many of these terms are thrown around the marketing space to make something seem like it’s a certain way that it isn’t.
Yet, there is more to greenwashing than stretching the truth.
Greenwashing is the gap between the image and reality of corporate environmentalism. It’s when claims and promises are more symbolic rather than concrete social actions. Greenwashing diminishes real action thanks to this performative action.
The intersection of poor corporate environmental performance and positive communication about environmental performance is then perpetuated. This greater emphasis on symbolic commitments is made to maintain corporate legitimacy. In the end, conservation measures aren’t truly made or are never fulfilled.
Although the Federal Trade Commission presses organizations to use clear and certain language to convey claims, the truth of the matter tends to be disappointing. According to TerraChoice, 95% of products claiming to be green in Canada and the US were guilty of at least one greenwashing sin.
There are two types of greenwashing: claim and executional.
It can be easy to be fooled by packaging, advertisements, and blanket statements but the method of greenwashing varies. Either a claim is greenwashed or how the marketing is executed is greenwashed.
What is claim greenwashing?
Claim greenwashing is the umbrella term for when a misleading environmental statement is made. Organizations can employ false claims (lie), exclude information that would help evaluate claim truthfulness (lie by omission), and use vague or ambiguous words (lie through lack of clarity).
Examples of claim greenwashing:
- Product orientation – Focuses on the ecological attribute of a product.
- Process orientation – Centers on the ecological performance of a production technique and/or disposal method.
- Image orientation – Tries to enhance the eco-friendly image of an organization.
- Environmental fact – Involves an independent statement that is factual about the environment at large.
What is executional greenwashing?
Executional greenwashing aims to suggest nature-evoking elements that can mislead consumers. These nature-evoking elements, intentionally or not, induce false perceptions of the brand’s greenness.
Examples of executional nature-evoking elements:
- Using color – Mainly green or blue.
- Using sounds – Such as sea birds, water, and wind.
- Using natural landscapes – Like mountains, forests, or oceans.
- Using endangered wildlife – Such as pandas or turtles.
- Using images of renewable sources of energy – Like wind or waterfalls.
Why is greenwashing bad?
Greenwashing presents a significant obstacle to tackling climate issues. It’s an enemy of environmentalism because of how misleading it is. The public is deceived into believing an organization is doing more to protect the environment than it is, which promotes false solutions that distract and delay concrete and credible action.
Furthermore, greenwashing hinders trust and promotes green skepticism, or the distrust of environmental claims and initiatives. This diminishes the effectiveness of real green claims and initiatives because of how difficult it is to differentiate reliable claims with greenwashing.
We are not in a position to afford these delays, excuses, or setbacks. Greenwashing undermines credible efforts to reduce emissions and address the climate crisis which makes it harder to secure the necessary global change to ensure a sustainable future.
Why do companies greenwash?
Typically companies greenwash to alleviate public pressures and uncertainties while also avoiding conflict with regulators, competitors, and customers. By greenwashing, organizations save money on actually implementing eco-friendly practices and positively boost their reputation while capturing consumers who want to shop ethically.
Overall, consumers and stakeholders are driving demand for environmentally friendly practices – with 66% of global consumers being willing to pay more for eco-friendly products. So, when a brand or company is perceived as more sustainable and ethical, people are more likely to buy from them.
Therefore, since many consumers care more deeply about overconsumption problems and sustainability, companies greenwash to secure or maintain customers. Companies answer to a board of directors and should always be striving to increase profits, so an easy way to do that in a more conscientious market is to lie.
At the end of the day, marketing is easier and often more effective than fully transitioning to better practices. Buzzwords, imagery, and good public relations are fast-track ways to navigate shifting consumer ethics without losing profit margins.
How do you spot greenwashing?
The easiest way to spot greenwashing is to trust your intuition. If something seems too good to be true, it most likely is. Also, know that transparency is crucial to determining a company’s intentions – including deciphering potential greenwashing.
Remember, if a product or company claims to be doing something sustainably, yet offers no metrics or explanation as to how – that’s definitely greenwashing. Simply put, if an organization is going above and beyond trying to do things in a high-caliber way you better believe they’d want to share more about that!
What are examples of greenwashing?
- Claiming to be on track to reduce emissions, when no real plan is in place.
- Being purposely vague about the manufacturing process or materials used.
- Using misleading labels like “green” or “eco-friendly,” which can be easily misinterpreted.
- Implying that a minor improvement has a major impact.
- Promoting a product that meets the minimum regulatory requirements as if it’s significantly better than the standard.
- Emphasizing a single environmental characteristic while ignoring other impacts.
- Claiming to avoid illegal or non-standard practices that are irrelevant to the product.
- Communicating the sustainability features of a product without considering company activities.
- Using packaging with nature-like elements that induce false perceptions of a brand’s sustainability.
Real-life examples of greenwashing:
- Being Frenshe using plastic packaging that looks like wood.
- McDonald’s using paper straws that aren’t recyclable.
- H&M making disingenuous sustainable fashion claims.
- Keurig claiming their coffee pods are recyclable when they really aren’t.
- Volkswagen falsifying emissions data.
- Covergirl marketing a clean mascara that comes in green plastic packaging and uses standard ingredients.
- Love Beauty and Planet branding and packaging signaling they’re sustainable without providing reasons or data as to how.
What can we do about greenwashing?
To diminish greenwashing we need to demand transparency, scrutinize claims, vote with our dollars, and seek legal definitions for products. We can choose to learn more and strive to be conscious consumers. We can also consider a product’s lifecycle to take into account the environmental consequences associated with its materials, manufacturing, and packaging.
We need to fundamentally change how we run our society and economy. To create an equitable future standards need to be set, so it’s clear what is a genuine effort for change and what isn’t. But, in the meantime, looking for third-party certifications is an easy place to start. Looking for products with certified claims is beyond helpful in determining whether something is eco-conscious and a good first step towards everything else that needs reform.
Third-party certifications to look for:
What certifications you should look for will ultimately depend on what kind of products you’re looking at, but I’ve listed below some good certifications you can look out for.
- Cradle to Cradle
- B Corp Certified
- Fair Trade Certified
- USDA Organic
- Rainforest Alliance
- Global Organic Textile Standard
- Climate Neutral
- 1% For The Planet
- Leaping Bunny