“Green” Marketing Is Usually Bullshit
We all want to do our part to limit the catastrophic effects of climate change , even if it’s as simple as making more environmentally conscious decisions when buying clothes, groceries and detergents. Unfortunately, many companies know that consumers these days are looking for “green” options and are willing to spend more time advertising themselves as green than actually minimizing their environmental impact. This fraudulent marketing tactic is known as greenwashing. Here’s how to recognize it when you encounter it.
How to recognize and avoid greenwashing
Greenwashing is a marketing gimmick to make something environmentally conscious when in fact the product is not sustainable. According to Business News Daily , the term was coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986 as a critique of the “save the towels” movement in hotels, a practice that did little more than save hotels money on laundry costs.
The result of green laundering is that consumers are misled into thinking they are making environmentally conscious decisions when they are not. If you want to avoid this scam, US News provides some clear signs of greenwashing:
- Controversial packaging. The product may be designed with leaves and trees, but this design is printed on top of a lot of non-recyclable plastic.
- False or incomplete statements. Brands get around the lack of third-party verification by writing “organic” instead of what you should be looking for, “Organic USDA”. Another common greenwashing tactic is the green seal, which does not actually have a certified mark.
- Second hand marketing tactics. If a brand sells “recycled” products and simultaneously sells new items at a discount, it is simply trying to use the appeal of “used” products to encourage more consumption. They don’t really fight the overproduction that fuels overconsumption.
bottom line
The bottom line is that most companies focus solely on their own profits. Greenwashing takes advantage of the fact that you want to be a more conscientious consumer and tries to keep you as a consumer at all costs. Look for contradictions between how a product is marketed and its environmental impact so you can avoid brands that don’t really align with your values.