What You Need to Know About Greenwashing

Greenwashing means the practices done by businesses, groups, and politicians to exaggerate or mislead people on how socially and ecologically responsible they are. Here’s how they do it so that you can determine if you are being greenwashed or not.

Hiding Trade-Offs

What hiding trade-offs mean is that when businesses or organizations say that their products are environmentally friendly based on minor actions that do not consider the full effect on the production of these items.

Not Showing Evidence

A business claims that they are eco-friendly but does not show any proof that it is indeed so. For instance, if a fashion brand says that its products are made from recycled resources but cannot show proof that the materials are truly recycled. Another example is a business boasting that it pays employees fairly without guaranteeing that they receive the right compensation.

Being Unclear

When a business does this, it uses terms and expressions that are too broad. Therefore, they are hard to understand or define. Many fashion brands do this by utilizing terms such as ethical, environmentally friendly, and conscious, but they do not provide details on how these terms apply to their products.

Being Irrelevant

You can determine that a brand is trying to greenwash when they claim something true but irrelevant. When you see their advertisement, you realize that what they are advertising is something expected for all brands.