Greenwashing

The term “greenwashing” is a blend of “green,” implying eco-friendliness, and “whitewashing,” which means covering up negative aspects!

Greenwashing is an example of a deceptive marketing practice i.e. to present the actions of businesses & organisations, including the products they create and services that they provide, as more environmentally friendly, sustainable or socially responsible than is accurate.

Unfortunately a global growing desire and opportunities for positive change has also opened up opportunities for negative exploitation.

Examples of greenwashing (2022)

• Coca Cola: falsely advertising that it is sustainable and environmental-friendly despite it being the largest plastic polluter in the world.
• Banana Boat’s “reef safe” sunscreens: contain harmful chemicals that negatively impact coral reef environments.
• Unilever: CreaSolv: Unilever Indonesia’s flagship project

You can read more examples here

When organisations engage in greenwashing, not only may the misinformation divert  consumers from adopting more responsible practices, they may inadvertently cause them (consumers) to harm the environment.

We have only highlighted a few companies that are known to have been involved in greenwashing. There are many more out there and we need to be vigilant of them. In the next section we will look at some of the tactics used by companies ‘greenwashing’.

References

• Business News Daily