What is greenwashing?
Have you heard of greenwashing? My initial thought when I first heard this term was that it sounds an awful lot like whitewashing. It turned out that my inclination wasn't far from the truth!According to Wikipedia:
Greenwashing (a portmanteau of "green" and "whitewash") is a term describing the deceptive use of green PR or green marketing in order to promote a misleading perception that a company's policies or products (such as goods or services) are environmentally friendly. The term green sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations that attempt to show that they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment.
In some ways, it's exciting to know that being eco-friendly is important to so many consumers - and therefore, companies - these days. The downside of this is that we can't simply take a quick glance at product labels or promotions to know the truth about exactly how environmentally friendly a product is.Here are some of the most common ways that I personally have been duped over the last couple of years:The claim: A hotel promotes itself as a green hotel because they only wash your sheets and towels if you request it, thereby reducing the amount of water that they use.The reality: The hotel doesn't bother to save water or energy with its use of electricity and landscaping, or within its restaurant.The claim: A deodorant is advertised as fragrance-free.The reality: I notice fragrance listed as one of the deodorant's ingredients. The product was only called fragrance-free because it was not given an artificial scent of powder or a spring breeze or the mountains.The claim: Food packaging states that the product is all natural.The reality: "All natural" can mean almost anything. It isn't regulated by the FDA and it has no actual nutritional meaning.Other ridiculous examples:- A bank is "green" just because you can conduct your banking online instead of using paper.- A grocery store that automatically bags in plastic considers themselves "green" just because you can return your plastic bags to the store after use.- Disposable diapers being called "natural" just because it contains an ingredient like aloe or vitamin E. Last time I checked, disposable diapers filling landfills is not a very green or natural concept.Even some of your favorite earth-friendly companies may not be completely clear about exactly how eco-friendly a product is:- Some Seventh Generation laundry soaps, dish soaps, bathroom cleaners, multi-purpose cleaners, and disinfecting wipes contain SLS or SLES.- Mrs. Meyer's and Planet Ultra laundry detergents contain No 1,4 dioxane.- Many Clorox Green Works products contain dyes.What can we do?- Read labels very carefully, regardless of how a product has been promoted.- Familiarize yourself with the Seven Sins of Greenwashing.- Send a letter to companies that engage in greenwashing.- Check out the Greenwashing index.
Created by: Marketing Degree
This is an updated and republished post.
