What Is Greenwashing?

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Greenwashing is inherently deceptive. The term is believed to be derived from whitewashing, in the sense of “an act or instance of glossing over or of exonerating.” Green was added due to the fact that it’s about the environment and sustainable practices. So those who greenwash paper over their non-green practices do so by misleading consumers about their products and operations.

Key Takeaways:

• Greenwashing is the practice of making a company’s operations or products look more environmentally friendly, sustainable, natural, or chemical free than they actually are.

• The practice is inherently deceitful, as the intent is to lure customers who are interested in the environment and natural products into buying a business’s brand. This is done with the knowledge that their products don’t meet the standards they proclaim to.

• Greenwashing tactics include vague or misleading statements about sustainability; emphasis on one part of the business that may be green while excluding other data; comparisons that don’t have a clear comparison point; and using terminology that can’t be verified or enforced, such as “eco-friendly.”

How to Avoid Greenwashing

The best way to avoid greenwashing is to be informed. Most businesses use similar tricks when greenwashing, such as vague statements, unclear comparisons, or emphasizing one particular green aspect to the exclusion of others.

How to Spot Greenwashing

One of the easiest ways to spot greenwashing is to look for more details on the environmental impact of a product or service. Companies that make a genuine effort to be green go into detail about how their process is more sustainable or less wasteful. A company that’s greenwashing is going to be nonspecific and make it hard to find further information about it, as they intend to be deceptive.

Why Is Greenwashing Bad?

The primary issue with greenwashing is that it’s inherently deceptive. There are levels of greenwashing, ranging from overemphasizing how green their products are, to covering up other aspects of the business that aren’t environmentally friendly, to outright lying and saying something is green when it isn’t sustainable, natural, or recyclable.

It also makes it more difficult for consumers who are trying to primarily spend their money on green products and sustainable processes, as it makes it harder to find products that are truly green. This is especially an issue for those who are just starting to make an effort to buy more natural and sustainable products and may not be sure of what differentiates a truly green product from one that isn’t.

Because of that, it can also make it more difficult for companies built from the ground up with the environment in mind to be successful. Consumers may end up purchasing products that aren’t really green and not buying the ones that truly are. It also makes it harder for those products to stand out, as the majority of companies are focused on carbon footprints and being “eco-friendly,”

What Is an Example of Greenwashing?

There are several different ways that organizations can be guilty of greenwashing. The Code of Federal Regulations lists a few different types:

• Lack of clarity as to what the benefits apply to. If a packaged product simply claims it’s recyclable, then that can be misleading or confusing. Is the product itself recyclable? Is the package? Or is it simply a portion of the packing or product that can be recycled? It’s especially problematic if it ends up only being a few small pieces that are actually recyclable.

• Overstating environmental benefits. This is often done with a statement that is true but not as beneficial as it sounds, such as claiming a box is made from 30% more recycled cardboard when it was originally only made with 3% recycled materials in the first place. That would only be a 1% increase while making it appear that they’ve greatly increased the recycled material in the box.

• Vague comparative claims. Some packaging will include vague claims like 20% less packaging. But that particular statement doesn’t actually inform consumers. 20% less than what? Less than their leading competitors? Less than their previous packaging on the same product? It also doesn’t specify how it’s determined. Is it less material, or just a more compact package?

  In order to do this properly, the company would have to specify what it’s comparing it to. For instance: our package uses 20% less plastic than our leading competitor. Of course, in order to make such a statement and not violate regulations on misleading advertising, they’d have to be able to back up that claim to regulators.

There are other types of greenwashing that aren’t directly listed in the Code of Regulations. In addition, greenwashing can include:

• Failing to mention other non-green practices. If a company makes a big point of how the shoebox they package their shoes in is made of recycled materials, but their shoes are made of materials that aren’t biodegradable, then they’re misleading customers. Their advertising implies that their products are eco-friendly, but only one piece of it is.

• Using a “recyclable” material that almost no plants are equipped to handle. There are many types of materials that could be recycled, but due to a lack of equipment, and expensive or limited uses after recycling, they typically aren’t. Using plastics or other materials of this sort can make it appear as if their products can be recycled when in actuality, there’s no reasonable way to do so.

• Image advertising with no data to back it up. Image advertising isn’t inherently bad – it can be a great way for brands to appeal to certain demographics or try to expand their reach. However, there are companies, like many oil companies, that make references to and use images of sustainable practices and products while largely not using them.

• Using unverifiable terms like “eco-friendly” or “sustainable”. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with either term, especially when green businesses use them and back up their claims, such as showing that they use recycled material or have a low carbon footprint.

  That being said, there aren’t any regulations or set rules as to what qualifies as “eco-friendly” or “sustainable,” which means that businesses can use them to mean whatever they want them to be. The terms can’t be verified, nor do they have regulatory requirements to meet in order to obtain the label, like being allowed to label produce as organically grown.

What Is Greenwashing in Business?

Greenwashing in business is typically when a business claims that its practices are more environmentally friendly or more natural or chemical free than they actually are. This can be used as a way to appeal to customers, potential employees, and potential investors.

Green business practices and sustainable manufacturing are something that certain investors are looking at closely when deciding whether or not to support a new business venture. Misleading others into thinking that a business’s practices or products are more environmentally friendly than they are can have benefits until they get caught out. At that point, it can severely damage their reputation.

What Is Greenwashing in Marketing?

Greenwashing in marketing often uses vague statements or packaging that implies something is environmentally friendly or natural when it isn’t. Common tactics include putting images of pristine wilderness or wild animals on the packaging in a way that implies that their products help to protect the environment.

Vague or misleading statements can include focusing on one aspect of the business that is green while ignoring the parts of it that aren’t. Or it can include comparison statements that are unclear, such as saying on the label of a can of peaches that they have no added sugar while adding other types of sweeteners.

What Is Greenwashing in Fashion?

The fashion industry uses greenwashing to appeal to consumers in the same way that other industries do. It often has to do with the types of materials used for clothing, as well as the practices they follow in order to manufacture the goods.

Greenwashing in fashion can include:

• Implying that natural materials are inherently more eco-friendly. While there are definite benefits to natural materials, such as cotton being biodegradable, it also depends on how it’s grown and where it’s grown. Bamboo and rayon are often promoted as superior to polyester because they are made from natural materials, but that’s only one piece of the story.

  Depending on how the crops are grown, there can be a lot of additional pollutants, such as pesticides, fertilizer runoff, and fuel usage, to power the farm equipment. Does that mean that natural materials are worse for the environment? Not at all. But it’s important to consider the whole impact of the item’s creation.

• Promoting something as vegan. There’s nothing wrong with vegan clothes or clothes that use no animal products. However, many businesses will proudly label a product vegan with the implication that that makes it more environmentally friendly. That’s not necessarily so. Leather is biodegradable, but many synthetic materials may not be.

  Find out how these products are made. Faux leather and faux fur can be made from petroleum or essentially a type of plastic. These can have negative effects on the environment, both in the extraction of the oil as well as the fact that most of these materials aren’t biodegradable or at least stay around for far longer than actual leather or fur.

• Not mentioning the conditions that the clothing was made in. It’s not uncommon for clothing to be made in factories overseas. Oftentimes, these are in counties that have very limited regulations in terms of employee protection or pollution.

  So just because a product may be made of cotton – or even organic cotton – the processing, dying, and construction of the product may produce pollutants or be made in a sweatshop.

• Using misleading language. As with all greenwashing, fashion can use the same tricks, such as saying that a pair of shoes are made of 20% more recycled bottles when the original total was only 5%.

How to Stop Greenwashing

Stopping greenwashing isn’t easy. That being said, one of the best ways to prevent it is to pass regulations that goods have to meet certain standards in order to be labeled as “eco-friendly,” “sustainable,” or other desirable terms. But that would mean that it would have to become a legislative priority.

Another way that consumers can try to stop greenwashing is to learn to spot it and avoid products or companies that employ it. Especially if the result is that brands are called out for greenwashing and suffer damage to their reputation for it. If it becomes a detriment to a business to greenwash instead of a way to pull in more sales, then businesses will stop doing it.

How Does Greenwashing Affect the Environment?

Greenwashing has a negative impact on the environment because it allows businesses to reap the reputational and sales benefits of sustainable practices without actually employing them. It also makes it more difficult for consumers to actually select products that are green and environmentally conscious, causing green businesses to have to compete unfairly.

How Does Greenwashing Affect the Consumer?

Greenwashing affects consumers in two primary ways. The first is that it makes it more difficult to find actual green products if that’s something that they want to support. Due to that, it’s harder for people to vote with their wallets because they have to put in extra effort to find out if they’re actually placing the right vote.

Secondly, it can make it harder to get the products that they actually want. For someone who wants to use products with natural materials because they’re better for their skin, it can be difficult to actually find a product that is all-natural.

Author

Di Doherty

Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.