What is Green Washing

Awareness about environment is increasing day by day. Now people are conscious about using products which have less impact on environment or invest in companies who take good care of environment. So eco-friendly labels have become the new marketing strategy for manufacturers. Market is now flooded with such labelled products claiming natural, eco-friendly, organic, using no chemicals or preservatives etc. These are mostly a type of Greenwashing, used by the companies to misled the consumer about greater positive impact on environment by their product or services than they actually do.

The term “greenwashing” was originally coined by prominent environmentalist Jay Westerveld in a 1986, in his article, where he decried the common practice of hotels asking guests to reuse towels as part of a broader environmental strategy; when, in fact, the act was designed as a cost-saving measure. Westerveld claimed that those same hotels did little to help the environment and that the towel request was an act of greenwashing [1].

In addition, greenwashing may occur when a company attempts to emphasize sustainable aspects of a product to overshadow the company’s involvement in environmentally damaging practices.

A report published by European Commission, in 2021 says that in 42% of cases the claims were exaggerated, false or deceptive and could potentially qualify as unfair commercial practices. Main findings of the survey are

  1. In more than half of the cases, the trader did not provide sufficient information for consumers to judge the claim’s accuracy.
  2. In 37% of cases, the claim included vague and general statements such as “conscious”, “eco-friendly”, “sustainable” which aimed to convey the unsubstantiated impression to consumers that a product had no negative impact on the environment.
  3. Moreover, in 59% of cases the trader had not provided easily accessible evidence to support its claim.[2]

So, the key highlights of the greenwashing are-

  1. Greenwashing is an attempt to capitalize on the growing demand for environmentally sound products.
  2. Greenwashing can convey a false impression that a company or its products are environmentally conscious or friendly.
  3. Critics have accused some companies of greenwashing to capitalize on the socially responsible or environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing movement.
  4. Genuinely green products or businesses back up their claims with facts and details. [3]

References

  1. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/greenwashing
  2. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_269
  3. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/greenwashing.asp

What is Green Washing

Awareness about environment is increasing day by day. Now people are conscious about using products which have less impact on environment or invest in companies who take good care of environment. So eco-friendly labels have become the new marketing strategy for manufacturers. Market is now flooded with such labelled products claiming natural, eco-friendly, organic, using no chemicals or preservatives etc. These are mostly a type of Greenwashing, used by the companies to misled the consumer about greater positive impact on environment by their product or services than they actually do.

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