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5 Greenwashing Tactics to Look Out For
Green issues, which were once a minority interest, steadily came into sharper focus over the last few decades as mounting scientific evidence confirmed that our environment was in real danger of serious damage from the way we live. Before then, the majority of people, whether consumer or producer, were using and discarding products and materials that we now know are harmful to the environment on a huge scale, often without either knowledge or, or concern for the consequences.
These days practically everybody is conscious of the need to be concerned about the damage we can do. Some companies realise the need for change, others merely recognise to the need to pay lip service to it. Indeed, many can’t resist the opportunity of exploiting our new-found awareness by employing underhand tactics that encourage us to associate their brand with all that is good and green. These tactics have acquired the very appropriate name of ‘greenwashing’.
Greenwashing is used by companies worldwide to promote their image as environmentally-concerned and their products as natural, safe and not in any way harmful to the environment. All sorts of dubious, misleading and ‘vaguely green’ claims can be found on labels of many household products. The companies present the information in such a way that most of us take it on face value that they have the environment’s best interests at heart.
Here are five common greenwashing tactics to look out for on labels:
1. Biodegradable
A biodegradable item will eventually break down into its constituent parts. It’s not a very helpful piece of information for the environmentally-conscious consumer, though, as most products are biodegradable. Some items biodegrade very quickly while others, such as plastic bags and containers, can take many, many years.
2. Non-toxic container
A favourite ploy is to print on the label that the container doesn’t contain some nasty-sounding chemical. Of course, it doesn’t. Why would it? This is a clear case of greenwashing. It leads us to think that other similar products do contain that toxic or environmentally-damaging substance, and how lucky we are to have found this safe brand first. The ‘absent’ substance may be a banned compound such as CFC, for example. None of the company’s rivals use it either.
3. Meaningless endorsements
A common ploy is to include an endorsement on the label from an independent organisation. When we see a safety agency name of some kind with fancy logo alongside, we tend to think that they must be an authority on such things. In fact, they may not have any authority, expertise or credibility at all. They may not even exist!
4. Loaded terms
Often companies will use words that have a specific meaning but also have a positive effect on the consumer. Most of us think of the word ‘natural’ as being good in all respects. Not all natural ingredients are good for us, though. If a product contains a natural poison such as arsenic, for example, it would be more informative to emphasise that than to describe it as ‘all-natural’.
5. Recyclable
If an item is made from materials that are labelled as recyclable, it’s no guarantee that they ever will be recycled. Some materials require a complex and expensive recycling process that, in many cases, isn’t cost-effective. The company stays on the right side of the law by correctly claiming that the item or packaging is recyclable, while knowing that it probably never will be.
Greenwashing is a fairly new and still developing ‘art’. Countless companies will always be on the lookout for ways to legally mislead, if not actually misinform, their customers. As consumers, all that we can do is remain sceptical. They’re profit-seeking companies, after all. They’re unlikely to change.
Steve Waller is a green blogger who writes on a wide range of environmental issues on his blog Green Steve, where he documents his efforts to slash his carbon footprint.
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