is a misleading marketing tactic. It is the promotion of a company or a brand’s dedication to the environment, while that commitment either does not exist or is shallow and ambiguous. Greenwashing prioritizes profit over the planet, and is entirely contradictory to both domestic and international promotions of sustainability, such as the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Greenwashing refers to the marketing strategy used by businesses to present themselves as ‘environmentally responsible’ for betterment of their image. However, this is disinformation given to the public with the main goal of profiting from a product. There has been a recent spike in the amount of companies that participate in greenwashing, as the word “sustainability” itself has become a trendy buzzword that many brands are latching onto. 

With the newer generations becoming increasingly environmentally conscious of their own lifestyles, consumers are also more willing to purchase items of a higher price if they are marketed as sustainable, since they believe they are contributing to a worthy environmental or social cause. But with the greenwashing phenomenon, companies are exploiting this new surge of conscious consumerism by marketing themselves as sustainable for personal, financial, and economic gain. Greenwashing mainly occurs for marketing and public relations purposes, as companies attempt to deem themselves as more sustainable than they actually are by making completely false or very broad claims about their products’ or companies’ sustainability factors. 

Usually, brands that engage in greenwashing generate a massive amount of fluff for their websites, claiming to be ‘environmentally friendly’ or to only use ‘eco-conscious natural ingredients’ without providing any concrete evidence or certifications for these assertions. Vague and generalized wording is another telltale sign that a company may be greenwashing as they manipulate their company message and product descriptions to sound more sustainable to the customer’s ear. A lack of transparency on the company’s website, including the absence of impact reports, codes of conduct, or any other substantial documents/certificates verifying their claims could likely be a sign of greenwashing as well. Companies that beat around the bush and emphasize their sustainability initiatives without any proof of progress, or proof of current sustainable practices, can also be considered to be greenwashing. 

Greenwashing brings the ethics of a company into question, as many brands spend more finances and more time on generating misleading sustainability declarations rather than actually partaking in creating or pursuing sustainable and ethical initiatives. It is clear that many companies prioritize profit over the people and the planet. Large companies are also more prone to greenwashing as the practice maintains their profit margins and reduces the amount of large internal changes that have to be made within the company’s operations. 

LEARN MORE: Dangers of Greenwashing