The 4 steps for avoiding greenwashing
Most of us have probably fallen victim to greenwashing (and I'm not talking about those green undies that got caught up in your white bedsheets). Many companies have been taking advantage of our consumer guilt by smacking on an eco-friendly label and hoping their consumer’s glasses need a new prescription... Well Primark Cares, some of us have 20/20 vision (thank you Laser eye surgery).
But greenwashing hasn’t grown out of our desire to live more sustainably after binge-watching Blue Planet II, it’s been happening since the 60s when public utilities in the US were spending 8 times as much cash on eco-porn adverts than they were on the anti-pollution research they were promoting!
Earlier this year Wealthify carried out a survey which found that three-quarters of people couldn’t spot a brand ‘greenwashing’. Just 37% of 18-24 year-olds said they could spot greenwashing, and only 6% of 65’s and over could tell the difference. At Goodfind we are super passionate about raising these percentages, that’s why we are back again for greenwashing take 2. Read our take 1 to find out some basics of greenwashing, and how the EU is attempting to tackle the problem.
Whilst we wait for the EU’s and the UK’s proposed accountability framework to set criteria for the term ‘sustainable’ and make green marketing as transparent as 90% polyester leggings here are some ways to work out what shade of green your favourite brands are. And if we sound pissed, it’s because we are.
Step 1: Listen to your mother: Never trust a man… made product.
Companies that claim a product is eco-friendly yet don’t do the hard work behind the scenes are doing nothing to help you make David Attenborough proud.
Do your research. If finding out about their environmental efforts is like tracking down that cute person you saw riding the metropolitan line on social media, then that’s greenwashing baby. Ethical brands are proud of what they do, they aren’t money hungry, and they WILL be bragging about all the good work they do in excessive detail.
We’ve made it super easy for you to find brands doing the good work. It’s what we do.
Step 2. Don’t fall for outward appearance, there is much more to that reusable coffee cup than it’s looks.
Over 70% of people feel that brands dress up in green just to look woke, and companies producing reusable items such as water bottles, tupperware and cutlery live for this. Reusable is NOT a prerequisite for sustainable. Who am I to talk though as I sit here slurping from my reusable water bottle made purely from plastic that I ordered from that big, bad company beginning with an A. That’s definitely not woke. So many reusable products are mass-produced from bad materials in bad working conditions.
Where you can, opt for reusable products that have a mission. Don’t worry about all that hard work though, here are some reusable alternatives doing good things for Miss Mother Nature:
Step 3. Natural isn’t naturally good.
Let’s talk about essential oils. Us westerners are obsessed, and the demand for these oils has shot up in recent years.
These tiny bottles of fragrance heaven have massive consequences to the planet with most companies using corporate farming to source their materials. And most companies certainly aren’t out there bragging about which pesticides kill the most wildlife. It takes a huge amount of raw material to produce just one teeny, tiny bottle of oil - with a yield of 0.006% per petal over 10,000 pounds of rose petals are needed for every 1 pound of oil. Nuts right?
Don’t panic though, we’re not saying all essential oils are evil so don’t throw away your humidifier just yet (please don’t throw it away in fact). There are still good guys out there. Try The Future Kept or get your essential oil hit in a different form by Ksoni. Also, when shopping for essential oils always check the ingredients to make sure that they aren’t harmful to you or to the planet.
Step 4. Collect your receipts (and I don’t mean from the till).
Show me the proof!! Greenwashing brands tend to use evasive language and make brief claims when talking about the eco-friendly nature of their products. “This plastic water bottle is 70% recyclable” Ummm… what about the missing 30%? Quorn came under fire last year after claiming purchasing its Thai Wondergrains would reduce the carbon footprint of their company. How, might you ask? Well, we don’t know... and neither did Quorn!
It’s not only when talking about their products do you need to watch out. Greenwashers will make loose claims such as “we donate unsold clothes to - insert charity - to reduce the number of clothes that end up in landfills”. I mean? Let’s be real, there’s only one way to reduce the amount of unwanted clothing items ending up in landfills and it’s by stopping mass production. Try brands that do not mass produce and make clothes on a made-to-order basis like this, or this or even this.
Photo by Charles Etoroma on Unsplash
No matter how much a company claims its ethos and its products are safe for the planet, excessive shopping will never be sustainable. We all need stuff though. That’s why we already found the brands making moves to protect our planet for you. Keep on doing the good fight and continue to shop locally, shop consciously, and shop sparingly.
Words by Leonie Carver