Why no one is fooled by greenwashing

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Picked today from the Cosmetics Design Newsletter

Why no one is fooled by greenwashing

By Guy Montague-, 20-Apr-2009

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Trickery and lies are not uncommon in marketing but when selling sustainability

bending and twisting the truth has become standard practice.

Last week TerraChoice, an environmental consultancy firm, published a report

claiming the vast majority of eco-friendly products are not as green as they

seem.

Surveying toys, baby products, cosmetics and household cleaners, TerraChoice

found that 98 percent had committed at least one of its seven sins of

greenwashing.

The most benign and common of these offenses is the " sin of the hidden

trade-off " whereby one environmental issue is emphasized at the expense of

potentially more serious concerns.

Going green is a complicated process

Going green is not a simple process and too many companies are profiting from

the complexity and confusion surrounding sustainability.

Flagging up the green credentials of a small part of a finished product is a

simple and effective way to mislead consumers.

If one small ingredient in a cosmetics formulation is sustainably and ethically

sourced then it is plain deception to emblazon the packaging with green

propaganda.

Similarly talking up biodegradable and compostable packaging materials is

misleading if the resources are not available to process them.

Sometimes companies will even go as far as making sustainability claims without

having made any steps in that direction. It is not uncommon to hear companies

claim to be sustainable because of what they do not do.

Sustainability is not a given

Is a paper packaging firm really sustainable just because it doesn't produce

plastic?

Obviously not, but such claims, made more or less explicitly, are not as rare as

their absurdity would suggest.

With that sort of precedent it is not impossible to imagine companies in today's

economy saying declining sales and output are evidence of their commitment to

lower carbon emissions.

Of course there are plenty of companies that are genuine in their commitment to

sustainability but too many see it as just another consumer trend and find it

easy to mock commitment.

Bogus claims may convince some people in the short run but over time the fake

environmentalists will be rooted out.