Nowadays more people are increasingly aware of how important sustainable sourcing is to the average consumer. Recent surveys have shown that between half to two-thirds of consumers said that they would be willing to pay more for a product if it was considered sustainable.
Knowing this, it isn’t shocking that 72% of employees surveyed reported that their company engaged in corporate greenwash in 2022.
So, what is greenwashing? Greenwashing occurs when a company makes broad claims about their product’s sustainability without evidence, overstate their positive environmental impacts, and claim their products to be “eco-friendly’ yet source their raw materials from unsustainable suppliers.
How do we spot it?
Greenwashing can be spotted in many different ways. Here’s a few:
Fluffy Language: When a product is overusing “eco-friendly” or “natural” without any specific ways of how the company is striving to be sustainable. Any general “green” words that are used without the showing of a certification or a detailed explanation on the packaging could be grounds for greenwashing.
No Data Used: Usually companies will be able to tell you what percentage of the product’s packaging is recycled material. If packaging is recyclable, they might give you instructions on how to recycle that specific package.
Dirty Production vs Green Products: products that are produced in unsustainable factories are not eco-friendly. Does this company use cheap labor or mass produce with unsustainable materials?
The Color Green: Sometimes marketing departments within companies will make their packing green or have images of flowers or trees, even when its completely unrelated to the product itself.
The Packaging Itself: Sometimes the packaging on a product will not be easily recyclable or will be mixed-media, containing several different materials combined into one which makes it difficult to recycle. Companies will also over-use packaging, usually for aesthetic purposes.
Being aware of greenwashing is one of the first steps to being a responsible consumer. Always remember that consumers have the power to choose which companies change the world.
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