How to Spot Greenwashing
With the rise of conscious consumerism and growing concern for our planet – and the disdain with which brands treat it and us – has come the rise of #greenwashing. Marketing is famously lies, lies and more lies. Or it was traditionally. But thankfully, people have got savvy to the very particular sort of lie that is greenwashing. We’re confronted with is on a daily basis. So, in this first of my three-part blog series, I’ll show you a few sneaky greenwashing techniques that brands don’t want us to notice…
Half-claims
“Uses 60% less plastic”. Than what? A beach inflatable? A kilo of plastic bottles? A small country in a year?
Making up new words/phrases
“Planet-centric”, “Our earth-first range”, “Nature-friendly”… cute, but thoroughly unquantifiable.
Not the whole truth
“100% recyclable”, when it ought to be caveated with “If you send it off to this one specialist company who can recycle it in bulk, but not in your curb-side bin”.
Diverting attention
“Now in recycled, recyclable paper sleeve.” It’s a magician’s top tool – bringing your attention to one element of the trick so you don’t see the slight of hand going on. Well, brands do it too. The claim above is fantastic, unless inside that paper sleeve are several layers of plastic and foil wrapping which can’t be recycled.
Passing the buck
“Please reuse me”. I see this all the time, plastered all over plastic bags which companies send items in. You said you were a ‘green’ company, then you send me something encased in layers of plastic and put the onus on me to reuse it?
And my particular favourite form of greenwashing…
Words which mean absolutely nothing
Green, eco-friendly & planet-friendly – these can be fine if qualified with something else, but they’re not measurable or very specific. They’re certainly not quantifiable.
Sustainable – fully un-certifiable, un-quantifiable and very subjective. Compared to what? Based on whose framework? In which aspects? ‘Ethical’ is very similar – by what standards is the product or service or process ethical?
(Ingredients) of natural origin – lots of things originate in nature. A banana is of natural origin, but so is rhino horn. Arguably, even plastic originates in nature, it’s made from oil. Oil is natural. So you see, ‘of natural origin’ might look appealing on a shampoo bottle, but it doesn’t say a lot about the ingredients themselves.
Sustainably sourced – a buzz phrase that the consumer can grab onto. But this is again subjective and needs to be proven based on an actual framework, standard or assessment method.
If you want more tips on avoiding and spotting greenwashing claims, the government actually has a great page to start from but there are also dozens of resources available online to help you out, and companies dedicated to fact-checking repeat offenders. For example, Good On You is a great place to start for fashion brands.
So, what can we do about it, now that we’ve spotted it? Look out for my next two posts in this greenwashing series where I get into that from various perspectives.
If I translate your German or Dutch website, advertising material or even B2B copy – I’ll help you rule out any greenwashing potential and make the hard figures and facts sound really interesting. Sound good? Get in touch!
