[Special Article] confront greenwashing 1, Greenwashing, it’s worse than what you know

Last July, a lawsuit was filed in a New York federal court against a fashion brand H&M by a New York resident Chelsea Commodore, who argues lots of H&M’s products under the label of “Conscious Collection” are greenwashing the consumers with its products’ misinformed environmental scorecards. She also criticized that ‘most of the products of H&M that are claimed to be sustainable are misrepresented.’ However, a representative of H&M said this is due to technical differences and there is no further comment.

A global business news organization Quartz has published an article regarding how more than half of the environmental scorecards H&M used to promote sustainability informed the consumers with higher than the actual sustainability or even opposite of what it really is. As a response to this article, H&M has suspended the use of the scorecard.

Youth activists protest against fast fashion

<Creative Commons; Pursuit website, University of Melbourne>

In this fast fashion era, the industry has grown tremendously and so it is in a position where it has to take responsibility for 8-10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater. Due to the situation, the lawsuit against H&M is at the center of criticism for the greenwashing marketing strategy of promoting “conscious consumption” to the consumers who want to make purchases from companies that care for workers and protect the environment.

Also, there was an issue in Europe over a lawsuit between two companies. In November, 2011, an Italian premium automotive textile supplier Alcantara won an injunction against competitor Miko for overstating claims about the environmental benefits of its products. Both companies provide high-end fabrics for the auto industry. Alcantara issued eight claims of Dinamica, Miko’s product, that was falsely advertised for “recycled polyester”, “the first and only recyclable microfibre”, “100% recyclable”, “reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emission by 80%”, “eco-friendly microfibre”, and etc.

The Italian court has agreed that Miko’s advertising was both false and ambiguous and that Miko gave a false idea of a green, eco-friendly image to consumers when the company had no practical policy or action to protect the environment. The judge also stated that, though the composition and origin of Miko’s fabric is neither eco-friendly nor natural fiber, there is a possibility that the company is portrayed as an eco-friendly company that sells eco-friendly products.

The court eventually ruled in favor of Alcantara and therefore, Miko was ordered to post the court’s decision on its website. In the ruling, the court added that green environmental statements must be stated clearly, truthfully and accurately based on scientific data without any misleadings.

This verdict serves a purpose as a first case of the court to prevent the damage from unfair competition between competitors by using vague language to advertise the product as eco-friendly which can influence the average consumer’s purchasing choices.

Since greenwashing is becoming one of the most influential measures of corporate value, investment and survival, one can assume that the number of lawsuits regarding this matter will continue to increase and for that matter, regulations and maneuver are also emerging as important topics. As a result, there has been a change of aspects over the last few years on how consumers, environmental activist groups and eco-friendly companies had been accusing or criticizing the corporations that were greenwashing consumers.

Now, greenwashing seems to be an obstacle when pursuing a sustainable society. But what is it?



Greenwashing, green + white washing

Greenwashing, a hybrid word of green + white washing, is a marketing strategy of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information to consumers on the environmental impact or sustainability of a company’s products and operations.

Today, there is an escalation in the amount of information and interest on the environment due to the abnormal climate around the world, which led the consumers to live a value-oriented life by considering not only the price or quality but also impact on the environment. To keep up with consumer’s wants, companies are already making their way into conscious brand marketing.

Hence, consumers will support those companies by making their purchases, but turn their back to those companies that do not. Just like the research conducted by ‘Shift Sustainability,’ a sustainability market research agency based in the UK, of 1002 of the UK consumers, shown below.

<Shift Sustainability(2020)>

Ashkin Group from the U.S. conducted a similar survey last April and found nearly 80% of American shoppers consider the environmental impact of the product before purchasing and 70% of those would change their shopping habits if they are informed that a brand was not operating sustainably. These surveys show that consumers believe sustainability and the global environment are interconnected, and ethical practices must be implemented, such as recycling, using or choosing eco-friendly material, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to save the planet.

In consequence, consumers are not only interested in product information but they are starting to intervene in the procedure of developing and producing a product to see whether the product is sustainable or not.

Boxed water claims to be “better” than plastic, but it still produces waste

<THECIRCULARCONSUMER.COM>

If so, what are some types of greenwashing?



Types and criteria of greenwashing

Terra Choice, a Canadian eco-friendly consulting company, developed the Seven Sins of Greenwashing based on the results of the original study and subsequent studies.


With the recent surge in online shopping, there is also a rapid hike in online greenwashing. According to the report from Competition and Markets Authority, CMA, about 40% of 500 websites around the world are using false or exaggerated eco-friendly advertisements.

Yet, it is hard for consumers to distinguish greenwashing because the eco-friendliness of the product is an area of technical expertise that we have no choice but to rely on the provided information. Despite the fact, what are some ways to avoid greenwashing?



Consumer’s greenwashing checklist

Recently, the cases of individuals suffering from greenwashing are increasing and so are the cases of companies. Considering the long-term development and investment, the damage to the company is greater than that of the individual, and it also causes great losses and opportunity costs to society as well. In this regard, the CMA provides a checklist to minimize the risk of greenwashing by companies as follows.



Company’s greenwashing checklist

<EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES>

Greenwashing is the worst form of bad deed that deceives people and adversely affects the environment which is a violation of respect for people and nature. As a result, a society without respect will end in destruction. To put a stop to this, governments around the globe are making various regulations on greenwashing, and companies are preparing to respond to it. Before going to the stage of legal sanctions, consumers should also look at products that are cleverly greenwashed with rational thinking and interest, and be vigilant together to prevent them from setting foot in the society.

Then, what are some examples of greenwashing that we face near us? We will continue to talk about this in the following article.