Greenwashing
Hello and welcome to the next blog series, which by unanimous vote, is all about greenwashing.
Have you ever tried to make a better choice only to find out that it wasn’t what you thought? Or have you been shopping recently and seen ‘green’ products that seem too good to be true?
Trying to develop more sustainable practices is hard enough without the confusion and disappointment that comes with being greenwashed. Most of us want to make good choices for ourselves and the planet; and we want these choices to be simple. Which is why we really want to believe the labels we see that tell us something is eco-friendly. If only things were that straightforward.
Greenwashing
behaviour or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is
The term greenwashing has been around since the 80’s and was originally used to describe big environmental claims that businesses were making about their practices. Today it is used more broadly to include the way green terms and images are used in advertising, grabbing our attention and persuading us to buy them, especially as we are increasingly on the lookout for more sustainable alternatives.
The problem is that a lot of companies are putting the majority of their efforts into making their products look more eco-friendly, rather than actually making their products more eco-friendly. Then at times they are doing a bit of both - which is even more confusing!
For example, I’ve noticed a huge increase in drinks bottles being made, partially, from recycled plastic. This is advertised boldly all over the packaging as if that company is doing their bit for the environment.
The problem with this approach is that it is a laughably small gesture towards sustainability. Firstly, they are only using partially recycled plastic so virgin plastic is still being used which means companies are still reliant on fossil fuels. Secondly, plastic bottles are designed for one time use and can only be recycled (or rather downcycled) 2 to 3 times making this kind of strategy temporary. That plastic content will very quickly end up in landfill or in another environment as pollution.
These companies are also operating under the assumption that all the people who buy these bottles will be responsible and recycle it the 2 to 3 times it can be, but statistics show that is unlikely as only 10% of plastic is recycled more than once! (Geyer, Jambeck and Law, 2017) The gesture they are making towards being more eco-friendly is, in reality, a drop in the ocean – and that drop is likely to end up consisting, not of water, but of plastic bottles.
At a time when ‘going green’ is the in thing (don’t get me wrong, I am so glad that the environment has the platform it does, its been a long time coming!) we need to make sure that what we do, what companies and governments are doing, is of genuine value and not just an empty gesture.
In this series I’m calling ‘Green-empowering’ we will be looking at the various ways greenwashing plays out, who is responsible for the environmental impact of a product and what makes something truly environmentally friendly. I hope to give you the information you need, and what questions to ask, so that you will not to be swayed by appearances but instead make some genuinely great choices!