‘Greenwashing’ and how to spot it

Protecting our planet - by Brian Mayne

Glamorgan Star news 28/02/2023

2 minutes read

I RECENTLY read that the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network analysed 500 websites and found that up to 40% of environmentally friendly claims might be misleading customers by ‘greenwashing’.

So, I thought I’d take a look at what greenwashing is, why it matters, and what we can do about it.

There are many forms of greenwashing that businesses use, from being deliberately dishonest about their environmental practices and impacts to omitting important facts or using vague, exaggerated language about their efforts.

One of the more extreme examples of greenwashing was the Volkswagen scandal where the company admitted to cheating emissions tests by making its cars appear far less polluting than they were. All of this was while it was advertising the low-emissions and eco-friendly features of its vehicles in marketing campaigns.

Not all examples of greenwashing are on that scale there are examples where a company exaggerates claims about their product, such as having recently been produced with a 50% increase in recycled content. This could be completely true, but if the original content only had two percent recycled content – which had been increased to three percent – it’s hardly significant.

The reason why companies use Greenwashing is to appear more environmentally friendly than they are in order to boost sales and the image of their business.

And it’s not only companies deliberately trying to mislead us as consumers. Sometimes this can be done unintentionally – the company might be focusing on one issue that it’s helping but not looking at the bigger picture and weighing up the harm it might be doing to the environment at the same time.

There are lots of things you can do to avoid purchasing products from companies using greenwashing. If you see a company making claims about their environmental efforts, do the research into what they are doing before you make any purchasing decisions.

A good way of doing this is to look up their annual Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Reports which may be available on their website. These reports will provide information about their environmental practices, including corporate policies addressing climate change.

Another way of checking is looking for certifications used on products, such as Fairtrade, or by the business themselves such as B Corp. Certified B Corporations do business in a particular way. Rather than operating purely to generate profit, they prioritise working for social and environmental good. But a word of caution, sometimes companies use uncertified labels to make their organisations or products look more environmentally friendly than they are!

If you do feel that companies are greenwashing, consumers and campaigners can use the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Green Claims Code with which to challenge companies. However, the biggest impact we all have is that if we identify a product that isn’t as sustainable as it says, make sure we spend our money on one that is.

Brian Mayne – local environmentalist