MSL Bags

Maybe you’ve already heard of whitewashing. This is used to describe when there is a glossing over or covering up scandalous information through questionable facts. Greenwashing is similar but can be harder to spot.

Greenwashing happens when a company or organization falsely inflates its sustainable practices while promoting itself with phrases like “all-natural” or “sustainably produced.” It’s often a result of spending more time and money on positioning itself as being environmentally friendly than its actual spending on minimizing its environmental impact. The intention is to mislead consumers into believing they’re choosing eco-friendly options.

Where It Comes From

Coined in 1986 in an essay by environmentalist Jay Westerveld, “greenwashing” origins are linked to the “save the towel” movement that happened in hotels at the time (i.e. “Help us save water by not having to wash your towel and provide a fresh new one each day you stay at the hotel”). Westerveld’s take was that it was a corporate money-saving ploy as there were far greater environmental impacts created by hotels that needed to be addressed.

Westerveld only cracked the surface on the larger problem of corporate false advertising to make people feel good about their purchases.

For example, in the mid-1980s oil company, Chevron created a large-scale ad campaign to promote its dedication to being a friend to the environment. Meanwhile, they were actively violating the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. while also knowing spilling oil into wildlife refuges.

Other large corporations have been outed for greenwashing over the years as well. There was DuPont’s oil tankers ad about happy marine animals enjoying clean water. All the while DuPont ended up being the largest corporate polluter in the US that year.

The examples are endless and this happens on both a large and small scale.

The Need for Change

As the world increasingly embraces a need for change around greener production and development practices, greenwashing has changed a bit in the past 20 years. Particularly the influx of pressure on companies who are misleading with their environmental claims.

“The core theme has stayed the same,” said Philip Beere, vice president of marketing at Sightline Payments. “The No. 1 violation is embellishing the benefit of the product or service.” – Business News Daily

Some believe greenwashing isn’t always a malicious act or intended to deceive, but could instead be linked to over-enthusiasm from marketers—driven to consumer demand:

“According to Nielsen’s Global Corporate Sustainability Report, 66% of consumers would spend more on a product if it comes from a sustainable brand, and that figure jumps to 73% among millennials.”

How to Spot & Avoid Greenwashing

Outlined by Futerra’s 2015 Selling Sustainability Report, here are 10 basic marketing tactics to avoid:

• Fluffy language: Terms or words with no clear meaning (like, “eco-friendly” or “all-natural”)
• Green products made by a dirty company: For example, efficient light bulbs that are made in a factory that actually pollutes rivers
• Suggestive images: Photos or imagery that gives an (unjustified) green impression (like, flowers blooming from exhaust pipes)
• Disjointed claims: Like an emphasis on one tiny green attribute when everything else about what they do is anti-green
• “Best-in-class” self-praise: Declaring that they are slightly greener than the rest (even if the rest are pretty terrible)
• Un-credible designations: For example, the “greening” of a harmful product to make it appear safe (i.e., “eco-friendly” cigarettes)
• Overuse of Jargon: Industry jargon and excess information that only a scientist could fact check or understand
• Fake endorsements: A label that looks like a certification or third-party endorsement … except it’s totally made up
• Lack of proof: A claim that could be accurate but has no real evidence
• Flat-out lies: Completely fabricated claims or data

The bottom line: Look beyond the attractive packaging or so-called brand image that the company is portraying by specific pictures and colors, and look directly for the label, ingredients, or manufacturing practices to see what the product and company is all about.

A Social Responsibility

“Although the concept of corporate social responsibility exists, it is very rare that corporations actually live up to them, and when they do, it’s a surface-level effort to make themselves look good.” – Deandra Jefferson, office manager at sustainability organization

At the end of the day, it shouldn’t be the consumer’s responsibility to deep dive into a company that they want to buy from. However, until there are better practices in place to hold corporations accountable, we can at least do our part to ensure what we are supporting and “voting” with our dollars, for products, items, and resources that take better care of the environment.

That’s not to say all companies or corporations are out to intentionally greenwash consumers.

Patagonia, for example, is very open on their website about their use of chemicals and their ongoing struggle and efforts to become a greener, more responsible company: “We don’t do everything a responsible company can do, nor does anyone else we know. But we can tell you how we came to realize our environmental and social responsibilities, and then began to act on them.”

We can all start by taking small steps in reading labels, looking into businesses we don’t know much about, and making the choice to support those who are, at the very least, being transparent about their environmentally-friendly best practices.