‘If something sounds too good to be true, it is always worth digging a little deeper’

Written By: Dr Deepti Jog

Several people worldwide have started to pay higher-than-average prices for products with high-quality and safety standards, which are linked by the marketers to sustainable consumption or as healthier choices. However, in reality, very few of the brands sell organic products, made using sustainable materials or adhering to the social responsibility pretence.
Many companies put a green sheen over their regular products through a marketing spin created using green marketing. Such greenwashing practices are used deviously to convince people that these companies’ products and practices are environmentally friendly.
Greenwashing efforts can vary from altering the name and label of a product to create a perception that the product is environment-friendly or even include advertising campaigns portraying highly polluting companies as eco-friendly. Common examples include the use of leaves and fruits on products to denote that they are natural and the usage of a natural setting in the background of the advertisements. Common formats of greenwashing activities include companies overstating or lying about their environmental sustainability.
Recollecting the number of ads that we have previously browsed through, make us realise that such green messages have tempted us umpteen times to purchase a whole bouquet of products hoping to save the planet.

There are many ways to create tall tales around the goodness of a company. Here are seven common  wrongdoings and ways to spot them: 

1. Hidden trade-off: Environmental issues that are emphasized at the expense of another potentially more concerning issue. 
2. The sin of no proof: Environmental claims that are not backed up by factual evidence or third-party certification. 
3. The sin of vagueness: Environmental claims that are lacking in specifics and are deemed meaningless. For example, the term “all-natural” isn’t necessarily “green” – mercury, uranium, and arsenic, to name a few, are naturally occurring yet poisonous.
4. The sin of worshipping false labels: Creating false certifications or labels to mislead consumers.
5. The sin of irrelevance: Unrelated environmental issues are emphasized. For example, saying a phone is “CFC-free” when CFCs are already banned by law.
6. The sin of the lesser of two evils: Environmental claims on products that have no environmental benefits, to begin with. For example, saying cigarettes are organic.
7. The sin of fibbing: Environmental claims that are blatantly false. For example, saying zero polluting cars.

I hope that you’re equipped with sufficient info to go out and question eco-friendly claims from dubious brands. Hence don’t fall for the glam – do your research and make sure that you are purchasing from responsible brands.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwashing

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/greenwashing/

(The author is a faculty member at VMSIIHE)