Greenwashing

1. Greenwashing is a marketing mechanism that makes companies look more ecologically conscious than they really are. Usually, this kind of marketing works because people want to buy eco-friendly products but don’t have time to do research or a fact check. For example, Coca

Cola advertised a so-called “plant bottle”, but couldn’t provide proof, and it was later discovered that the bottles were only partially plantbased.

If you see a product that claims to be “eco-friendly”, here are 7 criteria that you can check: a. Hidden trade-off: Not all aspects are taken into account, and although some are good, others are not. For example, paper packaging is not always more eco-friendly than plastic, because the paper-making process leads to green-house emissions and uses chlorine for bleaching. b. No proof: There is no information that can support the ecological claim – e.g. the Coke bottles. c. Vagueness: The claim is too general, and can be misunderstood – for example, “all natural”, “100% green”, etc., which is often printed on meat.

d. Worshiping false labels: For example, a lot of multilayer packaging producers put the “PP” label on it, while it contains other materials and therefore cannot be recycled. e. Irrelevance: Some claims can be true but not important. For example,

“GMO free” or “CFC free” (CFCs are banned by law). f. Lesser of 2 evils: Some claims may be true but at the same time distract from the greater environmental effect. For example, Nespresso considers itself to be sustainable because it’s a member in the AAA

Sustainable Quality Program, but this programme refers only to the harvest of coffee. At the same time, the company produces huge amounts of trash with the produced capsules. g. Fibbing: The claim is just a lie. For example, Volkswagen was cheating on the emissions tests, while advertising itself as a low-emissions vehicle producer. 3. A lot of companies greenwash not on purpose but because they lack life-cycle thinking (in terms of where their materials come from, and what happens to the product when it’s out of use). So, if you want to fight against greenwashing and are in favor of real sustainability, you can do this by following these 4 steps: d. Post about a specific greenwashing case online, and tag the company.

This way you can put a lot of pressure on the company.

e. Inform family and friends. If more people are aware of the problem, it’s easier to fight.

f. Get to know sustainable labels so you can search for them in your everyday life. g. Buy at shops that are known for honest advertising. So to end off this chapter, we will look at some companies to examine whether they greenwash or not. The first is Ecosia. This is a search engine like Google, but they use their profits to plant trees. It sounds too good not to be greenwashing. At the time of writing (November 2019), they have paid for more than 75 million trees to be planted, mostly in South America, Africa and Asia. The trees are planted by various organizations and by themselves, but also by a 3rd party. 47% of their total revenue is used to plant trees, which becomes 80% if you subtract the operating costs. They openly state that their system is based on Bing, which produces a lot of CO2 emissions, but also that every search removes 1kg of CO2 from the atmosphere. So all in all, Ecosia seems legit and trustworthy, and should not be accused of greenwashing. The next example is Nespresso. This is a company owned by Nestlé that sells small coffee capsules.

The problem with these capsules is that for every 200 g of coffee, 100 g of aluminium and plastic trash are produced. The company is trying to create a positive image by reusing the aluminium for special products, e.g. pens or bicycle tyres, but these are often very limited, and are used mostly for marketing purposes. As mentioned above, they produce around 80% within the AAA Sustainable Quality Program, but this doesn't reduce the problems their trash creates.

On the other side of this argument, they have opened special shops where you can give back your old capsules, and they could use them all in the recycling process. But they are not all used to that extent, and it remains partly the user's responsibility to return them. In conclusion, we have to assert that Nespresso, unfortunately, is an example of greenwashing, and you shouldn't use these capsules if you want to reduce