The 7 Sins of Greenwashing
You’ve probably heard of whitewashing at least once in the corporate world. This term is defined as the glossing over or covering up of scandalous information through a biased presentation of facts. But greenwashing isn’t nearly as well known.
Greenwashing (a compound word modelled on “whitewashing”), also called “green sheen,” is a form of marketing hype combined with lack of industrial regulation in which green PR and green marketing are deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization’s products, aims and policies are environmentally beneficial, often in contradiction to their environmental and sustainability record in general.
What Is Greenwashing
Not to be confused with green marketing, greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound. Greenwashing is considered to encompass any business organization’s unsubstantiated claim for the purpose of deceiving consumers.
For example, companies involved in greenwashing behavior might make claims that their products are made from recycled materials or have energy–saving benefits. Although some of the environmental claims might be partially true, companies engaged in greenwashing typically exaggerate their claims or the benefits in an attempt to mislead consumers.
Or they may only advertise one small environmentally–friendly aspect of a product while completely glossing over another far greater toxic or destructive aspect of the same product in order to obfuscate the complete truth behind a specific product.
The Seven Sins of Greenwashing
In 2008 and 2009, researchers at TerraChoice went to big–box retailers in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK and noted down products that were making an environmental claim.
In the US and Canada alone, 2,219 products were making 4,996 green claims. Of the 2,219 products that made the claims, over 98% committed at least one of what TerraChoice Environmental Marketing referred to as “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing.” In other words, those products were guilty of some form of greenwashing. These seven sins are as follows:
| The Sin | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| #1: The Hidden Trade–Off | Environmental issues that are emphasized at the expense of another potentially more concerning issue. | For example, the harvesting of paper is not necessarily environmentally friendly because it came from a sustainably–harvested forest. |
| #2: No Proof | Environmental claims that are not backed up by factual evidence or third–party certification. | For example, products that claim a certain percentage of the product come from consumer–recycled content without providing any factual data or details. |
| #3: Vagueness | Environmental claims that are lacking in specifics and are deemed meaningless. | For example, the term “all–natural” isn’t necessarily “green”—mercury, uranium, and arsenic, to name a few, are naturally occurring. |
| #4: Worshipping False Labels | Creating false certifications or labels to mislead consumers. | For example, creating a fake certification to mislead consumers into believing that the product went through a legitimate green screening process. |
| #5: Irrelevance | Unrelated environmental issues are emphasized. | For example, saying a phone is “CFC–free” when CFCs are already banned by law. |
| #6: The Lesser of Two Evils | Environmental claims on products that have no environmental benefits to begin with. | For example, saying cigarettes are organic. |
| #7: Fibbing | Environmental claims that are blatantly false. | For example, saying that a diesel car emits zero carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air. |
Greenwashing’s Effect on Consumerism
Greenwashing also has ripple effects on consumer behavior. In a knee–jerk reaction to avoid blatantly greenwashed products, consumers may actively search for “eco–friendly” products. This often leads to finding a product that’s not greenwashed, but not the best alternative, either. It’s at this point where honest marketing needs to be prevalent.
Greenwashing Sucks
Besides watching out for this behavior from companies, there are also some online tools and search engines, such as Project Cece and Ethical Made Easy, which can help you to find sustainable brands, and avoid ones that simply pretend to be sustainable.
As the green computing movement has grown, some technology vendors and hardware manufacturers have engaged in greenwashing, changing their packaging, advertising or branding to focus consumer’s attention on green manufacturing, recycling or energy–saving benefits. The increased transparency and scrutiny many corporations have been exposed to by nongovernmental organizations, advocacy groups and collaborative citizen journalism in the blogosphere all have helped to reveal which environmental claims are accurate and which are not.
Consumers researching their buying decisions can consult the National Advertising Division (NAD) of Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) in the United States and Canada, which administers a system of voluntary self–regulation for the advertising industry. Online, sites like coopamerica.org, treehugger.com, corpwatch.org, greenbiz.com and others provide additional assistance. As blogged by Marketing Green, social bookmarking Web sites like DotheRightThing.org are allowing consumers to read news articles and rate the actions of the companies involved, based upon the perceived positive or negative environmental impact.
Being aware of greenwashing practices is the first step to undermining its effectiveness. As consumers, we must hold companies to account through questioning sustainability initiatives and demanding transparency.
Through reducing our spending with companies that indulge in greenwashing and investing our money where genuine efforts are being made to reduce environmental damage, the effects of greenwashing are diminished.
We can use the resources at our disposal–environmental charities, consumer watchdogs, and advertising standards bodies–to expose and challenge false claims. Importantly, our most powerful tool is where we spend your money.
Take Action
What you can do about it:
- Say No. The best thing to do is to not spend your money on the product and spread the word. Less demand will eventually get the product pulled from the market.
- Contact Them. You can also contact the company to address your concerns. Sometimes, rarely, the company did not intentionally greenwash their product. Once they understand, they can correct themselves or make improvements.
- Contact FTC. Another thing to do is to hit up the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They have online chat to determine if you should file a complaint or provide any help. Remember the FTC gets overloaded with complaints every year. And it takes a while for action to be taken.
Today we have the means to research the brands in which we invest our time and money. We have immense power as consumers; we shape the landscape in which businesses operate. Where our money goes, so does their focus. We need to ensure that focus goes towards sustainability. Businesses must be held accountable for and made to answer for their greenwashing; as the climate crisis accelerates, we simply must adopt a zero tolerance approach to any and all destructive business practices that place profit over planet.
Sources:
Greenwashing – Definition, Seven Sins, and Example
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/greenwashing