Greenwashing

Environmentalist and student Jay Westerveld first used the term 'Greenwashing' in an article in 1986. When Westerveld visited a hotel in Fiji, he saw that it urged visitors to reuse towels for the benefit of the environment, which would also conveniently save the company money. In the meantime, the hotel was undergoing an extension and was situated close to delicate island ecosystems. 

Hence, the term became used to denote companies making false or deceptive claims about a product's or practice's environmental benefits. It is usually a means for businesses to maintain or increase their damaging and polluting practices while manipulating the system or making money off of well-meaning, environmentally conscious customers. 

There are several instances of this behavior. Chevron started its notorious People Do campaign in the 1980s, promoting its efforts to save animals, despite the fact that the firm was still causing climate change and spilling oil in delicate habitats.

In an apparent attempt to reduce plastic waste, the fast-food business McDonald's famously switched to paper straws in 2019. However, the new, "eco-friendly" straws weren't recyclable, whereas the previous plastic ones were. Waste increased rather than decreased as a result of the action.

Greenwashing might appear to be like a blatant, possibly illegal, deception. However, as the executive co-director for consumer and corporate engagement at Green America, Todd Larsen points out, the majority of greenwashing is more covert and involves more subtle types of persuasion, such as these typical tactics:

1. Even if a business or product deliberately damages the environment or does nothing to protect it, nature-based imagery—such as trees, leaves, or animals—on product packaging and in marketing seem to suggest sustainability.

2. Environmental catchphrases like "natural" or "eco-friendly," which have no legal significance and don't reveal much about a company's particular sustainability efforts, are also often used. In an effort to persuade consumers of the advantages of a product, this language is purposefully ambiguous enough to remain subjective and uncontrolled.

3. Labels that advertise a particular benefit, such as "BPA-free," should also be interpreted cautiously. This is due to the chemical industry's reliance on a long list of "regrettable substitutions," or comparable harmful compounds that are now frequently used in place of more well-known offenders, as public health campaigners point out.

4. You've undoubtedly observed that thousands of businesses, even fossil fuel corporations that have no intention of halting future pollution-producing development, have made public net-zero pledges. This is due to the fact that it is feasible to manipulate the math to suggest emissions reductions on paper while either increasing pollution or carrying on with business as usual. 

In order to zero out their own emissions, businesses mostly rely on "carbon offsets." These are pledges to do something that lowers carbon emissions elsewhere, such as funding the preservation of carbon-rich land that might have otherwise been developed. However, the climate advantages of offsets are not assured; an unanticipated wildfire could destroy a "conserved" forest. These net-zero commitments amount to greenwashing if polluting activities are not altered.

Furthermore, greenwashing is not just an environmental issue but also a social injustice one. Businesses that produce these greenwashed goods or operate these greenwashed establishments have a history of establishing themselves in communities of color, low-income neighborhoods, or both. Hence identifying greenwashing is a crucial first step. 

How you can do that is to seek out businesses with a mission. Before endorsing a business, read about its founding narrative and core values. According to Todd Larsen, "many of the best businesses in the green space are small businesses that began with a mission of being sustainable, socially responsible, or both. If you look at a large company, some of what they're trying to do might be genuine, but it's not integral to how the company was set up and run."

Ultimately, looking further into their actual sustainable practices and holding them accountable to their claims is the way to go. As customers, we should be skeptical of the statements businesses make about how far they've come toward sustainability and encourage those that actually put environmental responsibility ahead of commercial gimmicks. Consumers increasingly demanding greater transparency in business processes and genuine impact will automatically coerce companies to stick to their words and reduce their greenwashing tactics. In the end, we can advance toward a more sustainable future by working together to expose greenwashing.

by Joytri Mahalanabis 

Bibliography 

Lindwall, C. (2023, February 3). What is greenwashing? https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-greenwashing 

Linsey-Parrish, J. (2023, December 3). What is greenwashing? - JSTOR DAILY. https://daily.jstor.org/what-is-greenwashing/