5 Examples of Greenwashing

The impacts of climate change become more and more evident each year, leaving the public to wonder what an individual can do to help combat the crisis. People have found that one of the easiest forms of activism is supporting brands that value environmental consciousness and sustainable choices. 

Companies are seeing the increasing interest in eco-products and learning that by marketing themselves as environmentally friendly, they can draw in a more extensive consumer base. This is a tactic known as greenwashing. Some brands take simple actions, like turning a container green or tagging a product with a seemingly environmentally friendly icon, while others create entire campaigns to deceive their audience. 

Here are five examples of greenwashing that you might have seen in recent years.

BP

• Oil and gas company BP was under scrutiny in the early 2000s after various accidents — explosions, spills, leaks, and deaths — from their infrastructure. These incidents almost ruined the company's reputation. So, why didn't they?
• BP did a complete “green” rebranding, marketing itself as a sustainable company with a simple logo change, a series of eco-friendly advertising campaigns, and announcing alternative energy projects. Then CEO John Browne was crowned the “green oilman,” and the public saw BP as a hero of the oil and gas sector. Behind the closed doors, BP was (and still is) funneling mass amounts of money into fossil fuels and investing very little into renewable energy sources, disproportionately representing their company's true actions. 
• In recent years, researchers have uncovered BP's greenwashing techniques and its successful attempt at misleading the public into believing it is an eco-champion. actions were 
• BP's two-decade-long campaign is still going strong, showing the powerful impact of greenwashing. 

Coca-Cola

• Researchers found that Coca-Cola made various claims about its eco-friendly plastic packaging rooted in hyperbole and falsehoods. The company's exaggerated attempts to create sustainable plastic and address the pollution crisis were both greenwashing campaigns designed to mislead consumers. 
• Environmentalists called out Coca-Cola for putting millions towards promoting their 25% marine plastic bottles, all while failing to mention that the company is the world’s number one plastic polluter, even with this green initiative. With more than 500 brands selling more than 100 billion plastic bottles every year, advocates are finding the company's claims and goals to be filled with empty promises. 
• Coca-Cola's greenwashing campaign intentionally misled customers into believing the company was taking significant action against climate change. 

Volkswagen

• In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) caught Volkswagen cheating on vehicle emissions tests in the U.S. The agency found that the company installed a “defeat device” in diesel engines to detect when they were being tested and change the data accordingly to improve results. 
• While pushing a vast campaign to market new low-emission vehicles, the company was forced to admit that about 11 million cars worldwide had this software. 
• The EPA revealed Volkswagen's straightforward greenwashing actions, in which the company’s effort to deceive its customers and government agencies was undeniable. While environmental groups mocked the company with fake advertisements, this greenwashing controversy didn’t do much to tarnish its reputation or impact its sales, proving how easily hidden and forgotten greenwashing can be. 

Eco icons

• Green, earthy, and sustainable icons are frequently used on packaging to make a product look eco-friendly. However, there’s little truth behind these “standards” and "certifications," and most of the time, they're completely fabricated. 
• On top of these icons, it’s easy for companies to use words like “natural” on their products since the terms hold no legal definitions. This ambiguity allows the company to not abide by any regulations, all while tricking a consumer into thinking they're buying an eco-friendly product. Some products are labeled as “natural” when just a few ingredients are derived from a plant or animal yet are still heavily processed.
• Many companies will put an earthy feel to their products by adding natural looking earth tones, including an image of a natural environment, creating a “rustic” look to the product, and more.

H&M

• H&M consistently claims that it's a "green" company with eco-conscious billboards, sustainability tags, and a scorecard system to inform consumers about the environmental soundness of its products. However, a report by Quartz found that H&M’s misinformed its customers about a significant portion of its product’s sustainability ranking.
• Another group found that H&M fails to paint the whole picture behind the manufacturing of its products when boasting about its sustainability successes. The company was even caught mixing up data when it stated certain products used 30% less water when, in reality, the product used 30% more water. Additionally, one researcher found that the company advertised green initiatives, which were more truly cost-saving efforts, breaking its brand promise of sustainable fashion.

So, how do you feel about companies greenwashing their products? Will you be on the lookout for greenwashing?

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: iStock/Arkadiusz Warguła)