In the past couple of years there has been an increase in North Americans’ environmental awareness and concern. We, as consumers, are reflecting this trend by buying products that are environmentally friendly. In response, many companies are now advertising their products as being “green” but, in fact, they are not. According to EnviroMarketing, these companies use “greenwashing” in their advertisements. To greenwash is to mislead consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.
According to EnviroMarketing, the main ways in which greenwashing occurs is through:
1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off
· Suggesting a product is green based on a single or narrow scope of attributes
· Example: a lumber product promoting their recyclable aspect and ignoring the harmful emissions in the production
2. Sin of No Proof
· Claims that cannot be proven
· Example: “not tested on animals” with no certification
3. Sin of Vagueness
· Claims that are so broad the real meaning is misunderstood by the intended consumer
· Example chemical free – nothing is free of chemicals!
4. Sin of Irrelevance
- Making an environmental claim that may be truthful but is unhelpful for consumers seeking environmentally preferable product
- Example: products that claim to be free of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are a principal contributor to ozone depletion. CFCs have been banned for almost 30 years, so all products are CFC free.
5. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils
· Truthful green claims within the product category, however, these claims distract the consumer from greater environmental impacts of the category as a whole
· Example: organic cigarettes
6. Sin of Fibbing
· Making simply false claims
· Example: a dishwasher detergent that claims to be packaged in “100% recycled paper” but the container is plastic
Companies involved in greenwashing need to be exposed. Advertising is generally about manipulating consumers into wanting something we do not necessarily need by playing on our emotions, fears, etc. in CAC’s opinion when it comes to the matter of the environment, the cost of false advertising is too great for advertising to be so misleading and manipulative.
What resources are out there so we can be a knowledgeable consumer?
The GreenWashing Index, The goal of the Greenwashing Index is to educate consumers about how to “read” an ad and encourage them to decide for themselves if what they’re seeing is greenwashing. Their hope is that with a better-informed public, businesses will start to:
- Have a sustainable business before they advertise they’re a sustainable business
- Be accountable for the sustainable practices they claim to have
They hope that if businesses do the above mentioned, an end can be put to greenwashing and real environmental change can be made. To read more about the GreenWashing Index, please visit http://www.greenwashingindex.com/.
David Suzuki
The David Suzuki website (www.davidsuzuki.org) suggests way to battle the “sins” of greenwashing by:
1. Checking labels such as the FSC label or Ecologo label (http://ecolabelling.org/ ). In Canada, you can’t say something is “certified organic” unless it really is –so check!
2. Consider where a product comes from, how it got to you and how it’s packaged before you buy.
3. Look at websites, call toll-free phone numbers, look for third-party endorsements.
4. Don’t be fooled by green prefixes (eco-, bio-, etc) and terminologies.
5. Be wary that not all claims are important, or relevant. Check and see what the competition has to say.
6. Step back and think. Even if it a plastic bag is recyclable, do we need it? Is a green magazine really green if it is made of pages of glossy ads?
7. Do your homework. Terra Choice and Consumer Reports are good resources for discovering products that are healthy for consumers and the environment.
Corporate Knights is a magazine distributed across Canada in the Globe and Mail. This magazine brings awareness to readers about corporations that are for a greener environment, and those who are not. Corporate Knights releases a list of the 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. In order to see the complete list, visit http://www.global100.org/2008/index.asp. The following are highlights from this report:
Three Canadian companies made the list of 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World.
(The Royal Bank of Canada, Nexen, and TransCanada)
Other well known brands on the list were:
Wow… I never thought about the problems with the “green” claims that companies were making in such a clear and concise way!
Great use of well known figures to make me see the severity of these fibs!
very interesting. Like the way you enumerated the 6 different ways to greenwash. The link to the greenwashing index was also very informative. I never really even put any thought to companies claims that their products were eco-friendly because I figured that they wouldn’t lie about such a thing but after reading this I definetely will pay more attention. Is their an actual company that made the claim under the fibbing section? “a dishwasher detergent that claims to be packaged in “100% recycled paper” but the container is plastic”