The truth about greenwashing: 10 damaging don’ts and the one crucial do
Aligning the talk with the walk
As consumers become more and more aware of the impact of their purchase decisions on the environment, you’ll have heard of ‘Greenwashing’ where companies jump on the bandwagon, making voluntary green claims to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.
Greenwashing can be accidental or part of the marketing strategy. Either way, it creates an uneven playing field in the global marketplace to the disadvantage of genuinely sustainable companies - those that do what they say, rather than just say what they should do.
“Green claims are everywhere: ocean-friendly t-shirts, carbon-neutral bananas, bee-friendly juices, 100% CO2-compensated deliveries and so on. Unfortunately, way too often these claims are made with no evidence and justification whatsoever. This opens the door to greenwashing…” Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal
Having a poor environmental record is one of customers’ top three concerns when deciding whether to buy from a brand.1
Consumer demand for responsible action is growing, with 76% of people believing it's important or very important that companies live up to their environmental commitments along the supply chain.2
The dark art of greenwashing
53.3% of examined environmental claims in the EU were found to be vague, misleading or unfounded and 40% were unsubstantiated3.
The 10 damaging don’ts
Don’t be vague
Don’t be misleading
Don’t make unsubstantiated green claims
Don’t confuse consumers with environmental jargon and complex labelling to make your product sound ‘greener’ than it is.
Don’t cheat the results to make your story qualify as ‘green’
Don’t irresponsibly create something new and eco-friendly at the expense of something that already exists that’s already environmentally-friendly – e.g. knocking down an eco-building to build a new eco-building. (IKEA)
Don’t use unethical, unconscious suppliers in your supply chain
Don’t proceed without verification and evidence
Don’t leave your staff, customers and partners in the dark – keep them updated with regular ESG reports and educate them on your efforts.
Don’t make hidden trade-offs by making only token changes while continuing with existing unecological practices elsewhere in the business, like deforestation, ecocide or abusing human rights.
The one do: Just do genuine good
Take your ecological duty seriously and follow the latest regulations to avoid greenwashing. The most important thing is transparency. Avoid misleading language and share your environmental progress truthfully to ensure you don’t accidentally make misleading claims.
From business-as-usual to business-as-unusual.
Brands play a leading role in creating planet-positive consumerism5 with the ability to change the sales narrative from wasteful/disposable mindsets like ‘frictionless purchasing’, ‘easy returns’, ‘buy-now-or-miss-out-forever’ (business-as-usual) to circular and regenerative models that prioritise the longer-term value like re-using, repurposing and recycling (currently business-as-unusual).
IKEA’s Black Friday promotion is a good example of business-as-unusual. Instead of offering the usual price cuts to encourage the bargain-hunting frenzy of new purchases, they relaunched their existing “Buyback and Resell” scheme, where customers receive store credit for returning their used furniture for resale. A transformational effort that shows how brands can easily influence and facilitate a positive change in mindset and behaviour.
Cleo – Marketing for good
At Cleo, we encourage our customers to re-think and re-invent their business-as-usual practices. By combining our creativity with our sustainability expertise, we're helping them create a new normal in business by engaging customers and prospects on matters that mean more than just the product or solution we’re promoting.
To learn more about how we help customers do business-as-unusual contact Haley on 07847 622 642 or haley.last@cleomarketing.net
SOURCES:
1 - BBC Global Minds, Sustainability Survey - https://bbcnews.bbcstudios.com/media/5471/bbc-gn_sustainability_one-pager.pdf#zoom=50
2 - Accenture Research, Survey, Jan to Mar 2023. Forthcoming publication - https://www.accenture.com/us-en/services/sustainability
3 – European Commission - https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/44278090-3fae-4515-bcc2-44fd57c1d0d1/library/b11ba10b-5049-4564-b47a-51a9bc9003c8/details?download=true
4 – Clean Hub - https://blog.cleanhub.com/how-to-avoid-greenwashing
5 – Accenture Reinventing consumption - https://www.accenture.com/us-en/blogs/sustainability/reinventing-consumption