Oscar Wilde once said that Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. This may hold true for works of literature and art, but in terms of Sustainability, imitation plays more towards hindrance than advantages. With the modern world moving more towards Sustainability and sustainable practices, there are more corporates jumping aboard the bandwagon of Greenwashing. The core values of sustainability are to help the human race live in accordance with nature’s laws without adding to the burden already borne by our planet. But with the increasing awareness and growing popularity of the concept of sustainable living, there are a number of charlatans in the market, looking to profit off the trend wave, without adding value to the cause itself through the process of Greenwashing.
The term Greenwashing is a play on whitewashing, which is using false information to intentionally hide any kind of wrongdoing, error, or unpleasant situation in an attempt to make it seem less bad than it is. Greenwashing is the process of conveying false impressions or presenting misleading information about how a companyโs products are environmentally sound and compliant with laws of sustainable living and development.
Greenwashing or the “green sheen” involves producing unsubstantiated claims and falsehoods to purposely hoodwink the consumer into believing that a company’s product or service is environment-friendly or has a greater positive environmental impact when in reality, they do not, and more often than not, they are likely to be causing more damage to the environment than good. The majority of the time, the companies who are guilty of Greenwashing are usually trying to cover up the stink of activities that are more sinister in nature.
Greenwashing, we can say, is a harmful by-product of the growing awareness and adoption of Sustainable practices, quickly catching traction across the globe, where the majority of companies are attempting to capitalize on the growing demand for environmentally sound products. This deceptive practice of greenwashing conveys a false impression that a company or its products are environmentally conscious or friendly while making it more difficult for genuine planet-friendly firms doing good things ethically to gain the trust and confidence of their consumers and making it impossible for them to break-even and survive in the market.
Critics have accused some well-known companies of greenwashing to capitalize on the socially responsible or environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing movement. Like, having one or two days of holiday for say “Earth Day” or “Environment Day” where they celebrate with “green” initiatives and pledges for the day and then go right back to square one the rest of the days of the year.
Genuinely green products or businesses back up their claims with facts and details, with certification from established international agencies that oversee sustainable practices. The โgreen sheen,โ effect is seen in multiple ways as an attempt to exploit the growing demand for environmentally sound products, whether that means they are more natural, healthier, free of chemicals, recyclable, or less wasteful of natural resources, it could be any of these aspects and the burden ends up on the consumer for making the right choices, even though it is unethical and immoral for companies to carry out these activities.
Companies have engaged in greenwashing via press releases and commercials touting their clean energy or pollution reduction efforts, when in reality, the company may not be making a meaningful commitment towards green initiatives, itโs all bells and whistles, no substance! In short, companies that make unsubstantiated claims that their products are environmentally safe or provide some green benefits are involved in greenwashing.
Of course, not all companies are involved in greenwashing, though the practice is widespread across the globe. There are some products that are genuinely green and their packaging spells out the many real differences in their contents from competitorsโ mainstream versions.
The marketers of truly green products are always happy to specify and readily available to prove the beneficial attributes of their products. The Indian brand Neeman’s for that matter, explains that its products, namely footwear are made from recycled PET. Their process is transparent to their consumers and therefore makes them more trustworthy in the eyes of the consumer. There are international agencies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that help protect consumers worldwide from falling for fraudulent behaviour and false claims by enforcing laws designed to ensure a competitive, fair marketplace. The FTC offers guidelines on how to differentiate real green products from greenwashed ones.
- The packaging and advertising must elucidate the productโs green claims in common man’s language and readable type in close proximity to the said claim.
- The environmental marketing claim by the company must specify whether the said claim refers to the product, the packaging, or just a portion of the product or package, which part, and to what extent.
- A productโs marketing claim tends to hyperbole its green-ness, ideally they should not overstate, directly or by subtle implication, an environmental attribute or benefit without providing substantial proof of the said claim. If a product is claiming a benefit compared to its competition, then it must be proven.
The Federal Trade Commission, one of the agencies that provide certification offers consumers several illustrations and examples of greenwashing on its website, with voluntary guidelines to spot deceptive green marketing claims. Here’s a basic list of examples of general unsubstantiated claims that can be considered greenwashing.
- A plastic package containing say a home decor item is labelled โrecyclable.โ It is not unclear whether it is the package or the product itself recyclable. Either which way, the label is deceptive if any part of the package or its contents, other than minor components, cannot be recycled.
- Say a floor rug’s label says that it is โ50% more recycled content than before.โ Even if the original percentage was 1% and the manufacturer increased the recycled content to 3% from 2%, this claim may technically be true, the message conveys the false impression that the rug contains a significant amount of recycled fiber when the truth is, itโs far from it.
- A green garbage bag labelled โrecyclable.โ Most often than not, trash bags are never separated from other trash at the landfill or incinerator, so it is highly unlikely that they will be used again for any purpose, therefore the claim is deceptive because it asserts an environmental benefit where no meaningful benefit actually exists.
- There is no such thing as biodegradable plastic; what plastic-producing companies mean when they say that their plastic โwill break down naturallyโ means that plastic polymer will eventually break down into micro-plastics in a span of 100 years or more, not in the lifetime of those using it at the least. These micro-plastics, some smaller than a grain of rice, eventually make their way back to our food chain, causing harm to us and our loved ones. The timelines have not been mentioned for a particular reason, that reason of course being greenwashing, to make it seem that plastic is not as harmful to the environment as say.
- Some companies use cardboard boxes as packing, claiming that these are compostable. Ideally yes, cardboard can be torn into smaller pieces and can be used as the brown addition for your compost, but most cardboard boxes have a thin film of plastic vacuum wrapped on it to protect it from the destructive elements of weather whilst being transported and for branding purposes. This renders the cardboard not compostable, especially if the plastic wrapping is fused with the cardboard.
- Scientists are now claiming that their research is showing bacteria and fungi and such natural elements are able to break down plastic! This is good news, but to be taken with a pinch of salt, because these experiments are conducted and are a success in a controlled lab environment and it is not a feasible option when it comes to large-scale application, especially when the rate of pollution is far greater than the rate of breaking down of the plastics.
Other kinds of greenwashing include misleading labelling or burying environmentally harmful or degrading practices in the fine print. Its ill-effects include the use of terminology such as โeco-friendlyโ or โsustainable,โ which are vague and not verifiable. Also, imagery of nature or wildlife can also connote environmental friendliness, even when the product is not actually green. Companies are also found guilty to have cherry-picked data from research just to highlight green practices while purposely obscuring others that are harmful. This such information most likely come from biased research that the company itself funds and carries out.
The bottom line is that Greenwashing is a highly deceitful and unethical practice as it misleads investors and consumers who are genuinely seeking environmentally friendly companies or products. More often than not, green products can be sold at a premium, making them more expensive, which inevitably leads consumers to bear the cost of this premium.
If greenwashing is revealed, it can seriously damage a companyโs reputation and brand, losing the trust and confidence in consumers in environmentally sound products in general. This forces them to go back to generic options, unwilling to venture out again to invest in sustainable practices and deem all products to be greenwashed and unfit to invest in. If Sustainability is considered as two steps forward in the move towards a better future for humanity, then greenwashing is one step back.