With environmental consciousness on the rise, consumers are increasingly looking for products and brands that align with their own sustainability values. As a result, many businesses are genuinely attempting to adopt eco-friendly practices. However, others are opting for a darker, more devious alternative: Greenwashing.

What is Greenwashing?

In a nutshell, Greenwashing is when a company communicates misleading or false information about its environmental impact, to confuse or deceive consumers. It portrays its products, services or operations as more environmentally friendly than they really are. Greenwashing can take various forms, from using misleading labels or vague claims to hiding crucial information about a product’s environmental footprint. Essentially, it’s designed to deceive consumers into believing in the eco-friendliness of a company’s offering.

The seven sins of Greenwashing

To properly understand the scope of Greenwashing, we need to explore the seven sins associated with it.

1. The sin of implied greenness. This is when a product is made to seem green, using tactics such as language, emojis, or colour, while ignoring important environmental issues. For example, a company might just mention using ‘recycled paper’ when the paper was originally a product of devastating deforestation.
2. The sin of weak evidence is committed when a company makes an environmental claim, but there is limited or no third-party information or certification readily available to substantiate it.
3. The sin of vagueness. This refers to a claim which has a poorly defined or very broad meaning, but gives the impression of greenness to consumers – such as using the term ‘eco-friendly’ without further explanation.
4. The sin of irrelevance is when a claim is true, but irrelevant or unhelpful to consumers. For instance, a brand drawing attention to the fact that it doesn’t use a particular environmentally harmful chemical when that chemical has been banned anyway.
5. The sin of the lesser of two evils. This is committed when a company makes valid environmental claims about one of its products, with the goal of distracting consumers from the company’s much bigger overall environmental impact.
6. The sin of deception occurs when a company’s environmental claims are, quite simply, lies.
7. The sin of mislabelling refers to using fake labels to pretend a product has been certified by third parties.

Greenwashing tactics

To execute these seven sins, dishonest companies use some common tactics, ranging from subtle tricks to shameless deception:

• Claiming to be working towards achieving net-zero emissions without having a credible plan in place.
• Using vague or ambiguous language about operations or materials.
• Using labels like “green” or “eco-friendly”, which don’t have standard definitions and are open to misinterpretation.
• Implying a significant environmental impact from a minor improvement, or promoting products that meet minimum regulatory standards as substantially better than average.
• Highlighting one positive green aspect of a product, while disregarding its other environmental impacts.
• Promoting the sustainability features of a product independently of the broader brand activities – a notable example being the infamous banned Shell TV commercial about cleaner and renewable energy.

Green Marketing versus Greenwashing

There is a big difference between genuine Green Marketing and Greenwashing.

Green Marketing is rooted in transparency and authenticity, promoting genuinely eco-friendly products or practices. It resonates with environmentally-conscious consumers and inspires people to make sustainable choices. And it educates, by providing accurate information about the environmental benefits of products and services. The crucial point of Green Marketing is to align with a company’s corporate social responsibility and its genuine efforts to safeguard the planet and its resources.

Greenwashing, as explained, exaggerates a company’s eco-friendly efforts, and ranges from making vague and unverifiable claims to outright false advertising, misleading consumers.

How to avoid Greenwashing

To ensure they steer clear of the Greenwashing trap, businesses can adopt the following strategies.

• Be authentic and transparent: clearly communicate green initiatives and back them up with credible data.
• Educate consumers: encourage informed decision-making by providing resources and information on environmental issues.
• Verify claims: seek third-party certifications and eco-labels to validate green marketing claims.
• Avoid pitfalls: don’t make unsubstantiated or vague environmental claims and instead focus on providing quantifiable data.
• Collaboration and industry leadership: lead by example, partnering with environmental organisations and participating in sustainability initiatives.

Beating Greenwashing requires an intense effort from both businesses and consumers. But, by putting the strategies above into practice, brands who are genuinely environmentally conscious can help lead the way towards a sustainable future.

To find out more about how The Maverick Group can help your company with its Green Marketing – not Greenwashing – get in touch!