The Trouble with Greenwashing

As the hottest summer on record continues, and the calendar turns from July to August, the human impact on the climate is difficult to ignore. Recent trends in consumer purchasing decisions and preferences show that consumers are more focused than ever on making sustainable purchasing decisions. Not only are consumers more keenly attuned to “green” claims, they are paying premium prices for it. This worldwide trend is leading more and more companies to focus on marketing their products as sustainable, eco-friendly, and “green”—but are they?

“Greenwashing”—labeling products to mislead consumers into believing the product or company is more environmentally friendly—is one of the latest ways to deceptively capitalize on consumer preferences. One of the ways that companies most effectively employ greenwashing is by tacking buzzwords like “natural”, “eco-friendly”, and even “biodegradable” on to their existing products. While these terms might promote a product as being more environmentally friendly than a competitor or the industry-at-large, this “lesser of two evils” can hide significant environmental downside. For example, biodegradable plastics might break down faster than other plastics, but they may require specific conditions to do so, and in the meantime, they still contribute to plastic pollution.

More troubling still are terms like “organic” and “recyclable.” While we are all familiar with the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol, various state regulations dictate how the symbol can appear on products. Meanwhile, some organic products are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who is the only agency authorized to certify a product as organic and put the “USDA Organic” logo on products. But some companies ignore this regulatory dynamic, creating their own symbols and logos, dubiously claiming their products are organic or recyclable without going through the proper regulatory channels or complying with all laws.

As consumers focus more keenly on buying environmentally friendly products, they should keep an eye out for how the product is labeled. What claims are the companies making about their products and how are they supported? For now, a discerning eye is a consumer’s best defense against greenwashing.