Is Your Content Guilty Of Accidental Greenwashing?
5 minute read
When you run a sustainability-driven business, you can face an uncomfortable tension between the goals and ethics that underpin your work and the less altruistic task of marketing your business. Influencing customer perceptions is pretty much the definition of marketing, but the line between promoting your eco-friendly selling points and greenwashing can sometimes be a little too fine.
In general parlance, greenwashing refers to marketing and PR tactics that manipulate or deceive consumers into believing that a company's products, methods, policies, or intentions are more environmentally friendly than they actually are.
The thing is, many businesses guilty of greenwashing aren't doing it intentionally. Maybe they were trying to make their company look as good as possible and just pushed it too far; in other cases, there's a disconnect between the marketing people and the product development folks, resulting in the misrepresentation of facts.
Whatever the circumstances, greenwashing gives potential customers inaccurate beliefs about the company's environmental credentials.
This practice can saturate whole industries, such as when legislation affects labeling requirements or rewrites the definitions of "fresh," "organic," "toxic," etc. to make the industry's standard practices look better and more sustainable than they are.
Greenwashing is like plagiarism. Everyone balks at the idea that they might be capable of it, but in reality, the definition is broader than most people think and it's easy to do unintentionally. That's why it's important to treat it as a professional issue rather than a moral one and proactively look for it in your own marketing.
Identifying Greenwashing
There are tons of reasons to be hyper-aware of how your environmental messaging will be perceived. Firstly, as a sustainable business, meaningful change and transparency are extremely important to your most dedicated customers. Even an unintentional misrepresentation can turn people against you fast.
Secondly, your environmentally-conscious status is what sets you apart from at least some of your competitors. You'll probably want to be aware of what they're saying and how they're saying it, particularly when those claims are weak and unsupported. Regardless of who's doing it, greenwashing is a weakness that can be exploited. Here are a few question that may help you identify it:
Is the company devoting more resources to its environmental initiatives, or to promoting them? One weekend trash clean-up to supply images for a Facebook ad campaign costing a cool grand is not okay.
Is the naming, packaging, or labeling of a product misleading? "Greener" branding isn't justified if the product hasn't changed, the change wasn't substantial, or if the change was driven by another factor (like cost or availability) and it just so happens that it can be presented as eco-friendly. One exception: products that have been sustainable since before it was cool get a pass if they want their branding to better reflect their values now that everybody cares. Also, watch out for graphics that look like special labels, awards, or certifications, but aren't.
Is the claim out of context? If a company has reduced the carbon footprint of their U.S. factories by 17%, that's great. If they were able to do that because they outsourced the dirtiest parts of their manufacturing process to Asia, not so much. Other examples of context violations include hyping a factor that's not a big deal in your industry (no pesticides in our electronics!), promoting something that's already standard or was mandated by law, and dredging up old information and leaving out that it happened in 1996.
Is the claim suspiciously vague? If a statement is poorly defined and the company hasn't made supporting information available anywhere, don't trust it. "Natural" means almost nothing. If you're going to use it, make sure your customers can find out exactly what you mean. Proof should be accessible and, if possible, independently verified.
Are the changes purely symbolic? The most poignant example of this that I know of is diapers with organic cotton on the outside, but the same old petrochemical-derived gel on the inside.
Do a company's statements clash with their actions? Such as, for example, a mega-retailer that claims to be reducing emissions while heavily supporting candidates who vote down environmental measures.
The Gray Area
There are definitely situations that are borderline greenwashing, but could really go either way depending on the context.
For example, how much credit should a business get for choosing the lesser of two evils in a category that is inherently unsustainable? So you chose the disposable water bottles that use less plastic. That's good if you have to buy them anyway (I'm setting the bar at disaster relief), but not so great if people could have used the water fountain.
Another iffy tactic is promoting things that reduce energy, waste, etc. but also save the company money. It's not necessarily greenwashing, but it can be. It all depends on how it's presented.
How To Avoid Greenwashing Your Content
Define your terms. What do you mean by "natural" or "eco-friendly"? Enquiring minds want to know.
Review the claim/ad/marketing campaign/etc. in light of your company as a whole. Does it overemphasize your impact or commitment? If so, backpedal—it's not only more accurate, but it gives you room to grow as you make larger changes down the road.
If people want to do some fact-checking, can they find more on your website? Make sure that you're not only including general information about your sustainable practices, but specifics and sources for your facts and statistics. Be as transparent as possible and provide external verification wherever you can.
How will your long-time customers see it? Will it ring true, or will they be suspicious that it's just hype? This is why creating context is so important. You can't give all the information in a single ad or line of copy on the package, but you can direct people to your website for more information.
If you fed this line to a coworker, someone who really knows your business, how would they react? Would they see through it, or would they be excited? If there's anything to "see through," you're probably too close to the line.
Let your conscience be your guide. If you feel weird about it, there's probably a reason.
So, there you go! Let's talk in the comments about situations in which you've come across greenwashing in your own or a competitor's business.