Greenwashing: what is it and how to identify it? -

Marketing strategies that misleadingly highlight environmental responsibility are called “greenwashing.” Find out how to recognize them.

The urgency to stop climate change leads millions of consumers to look for commercial products that have an environmental focus. However, the advertising technique of greenwashing appears as a deceptive method that companies use to associate their goods with sustainable production.

This is a deception because, far from being ecological, these products generate the same pollution as always, only that they present their work with an environmental perspective. For example, using green labels, confusing terms or images of nature.

All these strategies are encompassed under the term greenwashing; A way to wash the image of companies and bring them closer to customers with environmental concerns. There are different ways to identify when a product is environmentally friendly and when it is resorting to advertising tricks.

What does the term “greenwashing” mean?

Greenwashing, also known as “eco-laundering” or “green marketing“, is a conjunction of 2 terms in English. Green, which means “green”, and washing, whose translation is “washed”.

The color green refers to everything related to environmental protection, sustainable production and consumption aimed at reducing levels of global warming. On the other hand, washing or “washing” refers to a cleaning or bleaching that only represents an image and not what is behind it.

For this reason, greenwashing is a term that refers to the methods that companies use to show themselves as ecological. However, they do not intervene in a concrete way in any environmental aspect, such as in the production or distribution of their goods.

It is also considered green marketing when the investment in advertising or green façade is larger than the actual attempts to reduce carbon emissions. This happens with a large number of everyday consumer companies and is not a new phenomenon either.

Therefore, it is important to identify when greenwashing exists. In this way, deception is avoided and the general skepticism generated by this practice in consumers is reduced.

When it came into use

The term was coined in 1990 by English writer, botanist and naturalist David Bellamy. He expressed this during the celebration of International Mother Earth Day, which takes place on April 22 of each year. By that time, Bellamy had already noticed corporate practices that emphasized fallacious environmental credentials.

It is a variant of whitewashing, a word that refers to general strategies of image laundering in companies associated with illegal or unethical practices. It may seem like another misleading action, but greenwashing has serious effects and consequences on consumers:

Deception: The logical effect is that it appeals to fallacious images that do not meet the environmental demand of consumers.
No change: of course, this practice does not contribute to keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees, an urgent objective ratified during the last COP.
Skepticism: Greenwashing generates skepticism in consumers, so brands that do take measures to reduce their emissions are affected.

The products that are marketed may or may not be environmentally friendly. Sometimes, it is difficult to recognize its beneficial or harmful potential.

How to identify “greenwashing”?

There are a number of actions that must be taken into account to identify possible eco-laundering practices. When it comes to marketing strategies, the analysis of logos, words, slogans and images is fundamental. The more information you have about the way that company produces, the easier it is to identify its true environmental responsibility.

In addition, it is very important to know how the goods are composed. The environmental NGO Greenpeace prepared a report in which it identifies different green marketing strategies.

Keywords

One of the most common actions is the incorporation of specific words linked to sustainability in product packaging. For example, the terms “natural, ecological, sustainable” and even “green” may appear on a soda bottle that has nothing to do with sustainable practices.

Labels in greenwashing

Another greenwashing strategy is the incorporation of labels on packaging. This is a way of confusing consumers with official environmental care labels issued by regulatory organizations.

They can be small green leaves, logos of the same color or large references to recycling. But these are details added by the brand itself to confuse.

Composition

Some products usually contain 1 or 2 ingredients of natural origin within a general composition little linked to environmental aspects. The strategy is to highlight the presence of these components.

Therefore, it is important that users inform themselves and read in detail the labels of the goods to avoid falling into deception. It often happens in food and cosmetics.

Colors

The color par excellence of ecology is green. It often refers to trees, forests, lawns and the entire natural environment.

For this reason, companies modify part or all of their products with green tones to generate a sense of environmental responsibility. However, it may be an eco-laundering practice.

Large images

Promotion through photos or animations in which natural areas are represented is common in greenwashing. The emission of fuel with flower trails or the mere presence of trees and forests does not imply any environmental responsibility.

Some examples of “greenwashing”

Many brands ventured into eco-laundering to generate an image of environmental responsibility towards users. Especially during the 1990s and 2000s, when awareness of global warming expanded.

Meanwhile, the responsibility of the entire population in the problem was more clearly identified. At the same time, changes in consumption habits were generated.

Fast food

Some companies as popular as contaminants are fast food chains. To improve its image, McDonald’s modified the color of its brand in some European countries during 2010.

It was a typical case of greenwashing, since the campaign consisted only of changing red for forest green in the logo. A strategy to demonstrate social and environmental responsibility, while the production of their goods continues to be linked to deforestation in the Amazon.

Some fast food outlets label products with “green” words to create confusion and increase sales.

Energy

Another area in which it is common to resort to eco-laundering is the energy sector. While using misleading words and meaningless terms, they continue to invest in fossil fuels, one of the most polluting activities.

Nuclear power is often touted as sustainable because of its low emissions, although its representatives often ignore the type of fuel it uses.

Green soda

A comprehensive example of green marketing is the launch of Coca-Cola Life, a variant of soda that combined sugar with sweetener. The campaign included a green label packaging and the word “life”, in reference to an alleged link with the environment. In addition, it was accompanied by the slogan “Uncover your nature”.

Bioyogurt

Activia yogurt used to be called Bio, a prefix that refers to life and ecology. However, in 2004 the European Union banned the use of this term, along with eco, in foods that did not originate from organic farming. Therefore, the practice of greenwashing was evident, since the brand had to modify the name of the product.

Combating greenwashing has its benefits

Many are the marketing teams that work to generate subtle strategies that are increasingly difficult for consumers to identify. Therefore, it is essential to have the tools and information to avoid falling into deception.

In this way, not only consumers benefit. So do companies working to improve their production processes and achieve a transition to sustainability. It is not a simple or quick task and goes far beyond an image or a simple change of name and color.

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