Straightforward ways to avoid greenwashing

If you’re coming to the ESGmark® page, we’re fairly sure you have more than a passing interest in the environmental impact of your business. So we can say with some certainty that anyone reading this article isn’t a deliberate greenwasher.

However – you never know.

Furthermore, it is easy to fall into the trap of greenwishing, and genuinely wanting your products to be greener and more sustainable than they actually are. A third pitfall is doing all the right things but communicating it poorly - a recent YouGov poll found that two thirds of people are now wary of environmental and social claims made by brands.

As we wrote last month, both approaches will soon become illegal in the UK under the government’s Green Claims Code. Responsible environmental reporting has become unavoidable. According to a recent survey by WWF, online searches for ‘sustainable’ goods have increased by 71 per cent since 2016 to mid-2021. This has translated into growing pressure throughout supply chains for organisations to demonstrate ‘green’ credentials and ‘natural’ products. Many companies are now actively reporting their ‘environmental impact’ and committing to long-term goals like ‘carbon neutrality’.

Today’s business world is filled with these buzzwords, many of which have no universally agreed definition – in fact most you see can be used in varying, and sometimes misleading, ways.

At its most simple, businesses must be honest about the environmental claims they make.

You cannot make a claim that is factually incorrect, nor overstate or exaggerate the sustainability or environmental impact of your products, services, brand or activities. You also cannot claim that you are environmentally friendly if you are simply complying with legal requirements or an expected minimum standard.

Avoiding greenwashing isn’t rocket science, but it does take commitment. Taking action is very straightforward and we show you how -

define your mission and values

When you develop your business or work on forthcoming strategy, don’t overlook creating a mission statement that will guide your environmental and social responsibilities. Consider your values, your goals, your priorities, and the overall positive impact you want to achieve. Be intentional with your word choices, so that your mission is one which you can stand behind.

Your goals and desired environmental impact may change over time, which is perfectly normal.

If your understanding of terminology changes or there is an update to legislation, be proactive and change your mission statement accordingly right away.

be truthful, accurate and transparent when promoting your environemtal credentials

Any environmental claim must be transparent and properly defined. The terms you use need to be clearly explained and anything with a multiple meaning (‘green’ for example) should be contextualised. When putting together a marketing campaign or product launch, be absolutely crystal clear as to what your words means and how they are specific to the product(s) or business. If you have substantiating data or proof, add that to the details on your website.

Claims about future goals or ambitions must only be used if you have a clear, measurable and verifiable strategy to deliver on those goals. The more these goals are embedded in your overall business strategy, the better.

avoid making general claims

Be wary of general claims like “environmental preferability”, “environmentally friendly” or “Earth smart”. These don’t provide purchasers with any specific information that can be used to evaluate the product or make a comparison. Such claims are meaningless unless there is an accompanying explanation of what, exactly, this entails.

do not omit or hide important information

One common way of greenwashing is to lie by omission and highlight one green characteristic or feature of a product or service and disregard its other qualities. You give stakeholders the impression that a product, service or business has a positive environmental impact by leaving out the negatives – for example by claiming a product is recyclable when in fact only part of it is.

Honesty is the best policy – whilst showcasing your commitments you should simultaneously admit your shortcomings; you aren’t the finished article, but you are making progress. This might seem counterintuitive at first. But consumers are increasingly aware of the dishonest world of green marketing campaigns – being upfront and realistic about your commitments will go much further than relying on glossy green catch phrases.

MAKE FAIR AND MEANINGFUL COMPARISONS

If making a comparison between your product and another, it should be like-for-like – the products should be intended for the same purpose and the comparison should be relevant, verifiable and measured using the same metrics. It sounds obvious but if you’re comparing apples, make sure you really do compare apples with apples..

consider the full lifecycle

Be mindful of the total impact of your business or your products and services when making claims. For example, claiming that an entire product is ‘eco-friendly’ because of the material it is made with could be considered misleading if the benefit is outweighed by negative environmental impacts elsewhere in its lifecycle. Claims need to be based on your business-wide activities.

Making this a best practice part of your marketing is also a useful exercise in helping you to identify and prioritise action where it is most effective – the largest part of your environmental impact is not necessarily the most obvious, or the most visible.

SUBstantiate any claims made

Make sure you can back up any claims you make with robust, credible and up-to-date evidence. Wherever possible, this information should be publicly available either on the product labels or your website.

You could also consider a respected third-party environmental standard or certification.

a final thought -

No matter if the actions are big or small, being transparent about trial and error is always better than being inactive and dishonest.

ESGmark® can review your marketing campaign, claims and strategy to ensure you are presenting the very best, most honest, and most compliant campaign to the public.

For guidance on this subject or with respect to scoping out your organisation’s future ESG or Sustainability strategy then please feel free to contact us for an informal discussion.