Greenwashing: Everything you need to know

What is Greenwashing?

The term ‘Greenwashing’ was penned in 1986 by Jay Westerveld, at a time when companies were brought under the radar for false promises on environmental protection. Westerveld’s essay highlighted the hotel industry’s lack of conscious decision making when it came to addressing environmental issues. He addressed how reusing towels in a hotel would not take in hand pressing matters such as energy consumption, waste management, and labor protection. He called this kind of communication ‘greenwashing’ where companies put up an act about making changes when they are only doing the barest minimum.  

‘Greenwashing’ is notoriously known to be an unethical marketing tactic where companies promote themselves as harbingers of social and environmental development without actually making any real, long-term commitment.  

How can consumers/organizations spot greenwashing?

Although the difference between greenwashing and the actual act is vast – the impact of the latter is often clearly visible and traceable – it can be difficult to differentiate one from the other due to several companies’ marketing tactics.  

Here are some ways in which consumers/organizations can spot greenwashing: 

1. Is the company only talking about the positive impact of its products while leaving out the negative ones? 

While it is a fair angle to talk about the benefits of a product, when it comes to the environment, a lot of companies give up on the harmful aspects of their products. They resort to “selective disclosure” where they ignore the facts which might be in the end destructive for the environment. 

2. Does the company talk about environmental and social issues only during particular months? 

Several companies fall into the topical pattern where they join the conversation about a particular issue only during the month when the topic is discussed. For example, companies will choose to talk about sustainability or “eco-friendly practices” only in June during World Environment Day and will not participate in any kind of discourse during the rest of the year.  

3. Making irrelevant claims 

One of the most common mistakes of greenwashing is that it doesn’t consider a wholesome strategy. For example, while eliminating straws is a great way to reduce plastic waste, replacing them with plastic lids actually increases plastic consumption.

How can businesses counter the suspicion of greenwashing?

In his book, ‘Mastering Circular Economy’,  Ed Weenk MSc, PDEng. describes that “to counter the suspicions of greenwashing, businesses are under increasing pressure to measure and monitor their environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities to arrive at a more precise assessment of their purpose-driven actions. Many businesses follow the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) principles. The World Economic Forum and Big Four firms have developed a set of metrics for the disclosure of non-financial ESG factors. It covers key measures, such as greenhouse gas emissions, nature loss, resource circularity, and gender and ethnicity pay gaps (WEF, 2020c).” 

A business needs to have the purpose of driving real change, resulting in an actual push towards sustainability. They must be motivated enough to give up on the old notions of linear economy and make an impact on every level of the value chain.