In simple words, Greenwashing is a marketing strategy which big corporations use to put forward an image of being ethical towards the environment. It is usually used in cases where a company is trying to make a fake claim about doing something sustainable or giving back to the environment in some ways only to cover up its involvement in damaging the environment even further. The term was first coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld, who mentioned in his paper in 1986 how the hotel industry was keeping the reuse of towels as a strategy to be environmentally friendly, but in reality, it was just a cost-saving method.
Greenwashing comes in many types, but there are prominent ways in which it is regularly followed. Below are some methods of Green Washing which companies use to mislead consumers:
- False claims: When a company tries to market its products by putting labels like “natural”, “recycled product”, or “100% organic” or any other term related to the environment but does not actually have any evidence for the claims then that means it is making false claims to lure more customers. Bottling company Fiji is known to do it with its packaging, claiming that purchasing its water bottles helps in reducing carbon emissions and protecting the Fijian rainforest. But in recent industry news, they have been a target of a lawsuit for falsely claiming to be “the world’s only Carbon-Negative Bottled Water.”
- Misleading images: This happens when a company uses green packaging, images of nature in it’s commercials or any other text related to the environment. Fiji, again, is an example of using such imagery. In its 2015 TV commercial for Fiji Water, it used the image of nature in contrast to that of a polluted city to amplify how the company gets the water from the natural source itself.
- Hidden practices: The big companies can put up a front of being ethical and having sustainable practices, only to then hide practices which harm the environment in return. One of the leading examples of such behavior is the Fast Fashion Industry. According to a report by Changing Markets Foundation, H&M was found to be faking 96% of the claims it made about sustainable fashion. The clothes were sold with tags claiming to be “Conscious” or using recyclable material. Secondly, the clothes are made in conditions which are exploitive both to the employees and the environment.
Where can it lead to?
In recent years, more consumers are investing into companies which are environmentally sustainable. To protect the environment as much as possible is the aim of all these customers. But all the efforts go to waste when a company is found to be greenwashing. The company loses its brand image. According to the Carbon Majors Report of 2017, up to 100 companies were responsible for 71% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The climate crisis is at its worst and the companies are not just limiting the damage they are doing to the environment; they are even faking their sustainability progress.
All in all, Greenwashing doesn’t profit anyone in the long run, definitely not the customers, nor the environment and not the company.
