Green-wash (grēn’wŏsh’,-wôsh’) verb: the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental bene�ts of a product or service. (7)

Examples of Greenwashed Products

– TerraChoice

10 SIGNS OF GREENWASHING

Fluffy Language1Words or terms with no clear meaning (e.g. “eco-friendly”).

6 Just Not Credible“Eco friendly” cigarettes, anyone? “Greening” a dangerous product doesn’t make it safe.

Green Product vs. Dirty Company2Such as ef�cient lightbulbs made in a factory that pollutes rivers.

7 JargonInformation that only an expert or a scientist could check or understand.

Suggestive Pictures3Green images that indicate a (unjusti�ed) green impact (e.g. �owers blooming from exhaust pipes).

8 Imaginary FriendsA “label” that looks like third party endorsement—except that it’s made up.

Irrelevant Claims4Emphasizing one tiny green attribute when everything else is not green.

9 No ProofIt could be right, but where’s the evidence? All facts shouldbe accompanied by research and evidence

Best in Class5Declaring you are slightly greener than the rest, even if the rest are pretty terrible.

10 Out-right LyingTotally fabricated claims or data.

According to TerraChoice“Green” productshave increased by

are guilty ofGREENWASHING.

since 2009but more than

73%95%

WASHING

ALLNATURAL

ENERGYSAVING

RECYCLABLE

Greenwash is a term that emerged from Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and stated in the Concise Oxford Dictionary in 1999. Green marketing has been dramatically rising in the corporate �eld because of the corporate’s awareness in the consumer’s inter-est in ‘eco-friendly’ products(2).

Ogilvyearth advisor Ma Jun, of China, warns that greenwash is a “key subject arousing big attention in [his] part of the world” as well. he told us that local and multinational corporations have amassed 57,000 greenwash violations, now on the public record books (6).

(7)

GREENthe

LIES REVEALED!

AVOIDING GREENWASHING

For industries in general, Futerra, a sustainability communications agency has provided a couple of simple ways of approaching greenmarketing.

Before starting any green marketing, make sure you are green.

Step 1. Know Thyself

If after step 1, you realise you are not green, innovate. Redesign your product.

Green By Design, not LuckStep 2.

Check again with external experts about your product.Check and Check AgainStep 3.

Invite third parties to endorse your product. This will act as a powerful indicator for consumers.

Choose your Friends wiselyStep 4.

Watch out for words like ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘non-toxic’. Images can also be misleading.

Words can hurt youStep 5.

Health-check all channels for greenwash infestation (i.e. PR, advertising, packaging).

Greenwash Health CheckStep 6.

(4)

(8)

Victoria SimansjahCommunication Design | Emily Carr University

According to Thomas Lyon and John Maxwell, they came to a theory that corporate greenwashing is narrowed down to companies presenting positive information out of context in a particular way that could mislead their audience who aren’t aware of the full condition (5).

From the excerpt of “Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit” let us take an example of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship in 2003. The Royal Caribbean decided to advance their wastewater treatment systems as an action of environmental “progressiveness” however, this feature is only installed on three of the 26 cruise ships that they have.

Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, the largest private employer in the world and has the most revenue of any com-pany in the world. Walmart has pursued a strategy of sustainabil-ity, however, there is a tension whether it is only a public relations strategy or not. However after further research, it proves the opposite. Walmart is known to lead the consumers into a car-dependent lifestyle in which, you would only be able to access their stores with cars because of the location that they are placed in. Thus increasing the number of emissions to the atmosphere.

Lyon P. Thomas and John W. Maxwell. Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure Under Threat of Audit. Ross School of Business Paper No. 1055. Mar 24, 2006. Available: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=938988.

OgilvyEarth. From Greenwash to Great: A Practical Guide to Green Marketing (Without the Greenwash). Accessed 1 February 2013. Available: http://assets.ogilvy.com/truf�es_email/ogil-vyearth/Greenwash_Digital.pdf

TerraChoice Environmental Marketing. The Seven Sins of Greenwashing: Environmental Claims in Consumer Markets. London: TerraChoice Environmental Marketing. 2009. Accessed 25 January 2013. Available: http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/�ndings/greenwashing-report-2009/

The Greenwash Guide, Futerra Sustainability Communications. 2010. Accessed 3 February 2013. Available: http://www.futerra.co.uk/downloads/Greenwash_Guide.pdf

Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 10th Edition

Dahl, Richard. Do You Know What You’re Buying? Environ Health Perspect. June 2010. Accessed 1 February 2013. Available: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898878/#b19-ehp-118-a246

Gang, Jeff. Don’t be Fooled 2012: The Worst Greenwashers. The Green Life Online. April 2012. Accessed 31 January 2013. Available: http://site.thegreenlifeonline.org/2012/04/02/dont-be-fooled/

Horiuchi R, et al. Understanding and Preventing Greenwash: A Business Guide. San Francisco, CA: BSR. 2009. Accessed 1 February 2013. Available: http://www.bsr.org/reports/Understanding_Preventing_Greenwash.pdf

Other arguments include that Walmart encourages its suppliers to compete against each other in order to reduce cost and thus resulting in low prices pushes the consumers to giving more waste. Therefore an increase in the amount of land�ll(3).

In this case, the Royal Caribbean is telling the truth however, not necessarily the entire truth(5).

CASE STUDY

Case 1 : Cruise Control

Case 2 : Retail Bluff

SOURCES( 1 )

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( 6 )

( 7 )

( 8 )

GREEN-

WASHED!

Coca-cola is a large soft-drink producing company that uses plastic bottles to contain their product. Coca-cola made their research on �nding new ways to play the environmental friendly role.

PlantBottle packaging, is plastic which is “up to 30% plant-based and 100% recyclable bottle”. Coca-cola was very careful not to mislead their consumer therefore they state all the details openly within their product. PlantBottle was honored at 2011 Edison Awards for Best New Product - Sustainable Packaging and is a Winner of prestigious DuPont Award for Packaging Innovation(6).

Look for these environmental organizations:

and more...

Case 3 : Plant Bottles

THE GREEN TEAM

CO2

GREENWASHED!

Victoria SimansjahCommunication Design | Emily Carr University