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WAS IST GREENWASHING?

WHAT IS GREENWASHING?

Organic labels, packaging with a wood-like appearance, green labels – all of these are indicators of a sustainable manufacturing process for the product. At least that’s what we should think from the manufacturers. But what’s really behind it all?

The airline KLM advertised with the quote “From introducing bio-fuels to improving the living conditions of children – KLM shows responsibility in many ways to make aviation more sustainable.”. The slogan is intended to draw the reader’s attention to the company’s many good deeds. However, many aspects are questionable. The extent to which the biofuel contributes to the company’s improved eco-balance would first have to be examined. Additionally, it is unclear what the KLM airline is supposed to do to improve the living conditions of children. Presumably, this statement is intended to address the target group of parents.

Greenwashing is the term of the hour here. But how do we define it, at what point do we speak of greenwashing and are there moments when we even become too strict?

DEFINITION OF THE TERM GREENWASHING

It is difficult to clearly define the term “greenwashing”. It is primarily used as a PR method to convince customers and stakeholders of the company’s green image. However, every company wants to present its best side to the outside world, so where is the line between self-promotion and greenwashing?

“Sustainability must be anchored in the core business and throughout the entire value chain of a company. If this is only the case in isolated areas […] we are talking about […] greenwashing” (Pufé, 2017, p.211).

And why do companies address the issues of sustainability and environmental protection? There are various push and pull factors here.

PUSH AND PULL FACTORS

Push factors are external influences that indirectly or directly force the company to turn away from non-sustainable behaviour due to negative aspects. These include, for example, investors or legislators. A current example can be seen in the discussion around the Supply Chain Act. This law requires companies to carefully document their value chain in order to monitor human rights violations or environmental pollution. Non-compliance can result in sanctions.

Pull factors are measures that a company implements out of its own motivation to become more sustainable. These include, for example, social acceptance, which is essential for a company. They have a social responsibility, known as the “Corporate Social Responsibility”. This prompts them to voluntarily contribute to improving sustainable development (Pufé, 2017, p.118).

THE SEVEN SINS OF GREENWASHING

In order to better identify greenwashing based on specific characteristics, TerraChoice outlined the six sins of greenwashing in the 2007 study “Sins of Greenwashing”. A total of 1,018 products with green statements were examined, all but one of which had committed one of these sins.
  • Hidden Trade-off: Highlighting environmentally friendly features of a product to cover up other environmentally unfriendly aspects.
  • No evidence: Claims or certificates which cannot be substantiated.
  • Confusion: Formulation of statements that can easily be misunderstood.
  • Irrelevance: Presentation of factually correct statements which are, however, irrelevant.
  • The lesser evil: Emphasizing a positive characteristic in order to distract from the negative environmental influences of the product category.
  • False statement: Making statements that are fundamentally wrong.

(TerraChoice, 2007)

It is therefore useless to simply give the product a green coating, but it must represent a sustainable idea in its main benefit. However, as very few customers will investigate all these aspects of a product, it is important to adopt legal regulations and impose sanctions for offenses such as false claims or confusing customers. Scientists at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Research in Potsdam are calling for mandatory non-financial reporting system that includes social and environmental aspects. It should be externally audited like a financial report. This ensures that companies present their sustainability efforts in a standardized way and that business partners and customers are given an easily understandable insight. The Institute is working with the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the EU Commission on the introduction of such reporting. (Sürig, 2020) Only with such political measures can greenwashing be curbed in the future.

WHAT WE LEARN FROM IT

If the consumer cannot obtain reliable information about the company, it is difficult to make the best decision in terms of sustainability.
The question I asked at the beginning can now be answered. Are we sometimes perhaps even too strict?

No. It is important to clarify that every measure and every donation is fundamentally meaningful. However, in the case of greenwashing, the effort for the company is not proportional to the PR success they generate.

In 2013, Swatch intended to donate revenue from an Omega brand watch to two projects on an Indonesian island. The fact that they only donated 0.002259% of their annual turnover is comparable to a German employee with a gross annual income of €29,000 giving 65 cents to a homeless person.
The difference is that Swatch ran a large marketing campaign for this donation action, whereas the employee would probably not think of publicizing their small act. (Rohwetter, 2013)

 

Source: Unsplash

Pufé, I. (2017). Nachhaltigkeit (3. Aufl.). München, Deutschland: UVK Verlagsgesellschaft mbH

TerraChoice, Part oft he UL global network (2007) . The Sins of Greenwashing.
https://sustainability.usask.ca/documents/Six_Sins_of_Greenwashing_nov2007.pdf

Sürig, D. (2020, 31. August). Für bessere grünere Bilanzen. Süddeutsche Zeitung

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/nachhaltigkeit-fuer-bessere-gruene-bilanzen-1.5015688

Rohwetter, M. (2013, 10. Oktober). In Seichten Gewässern. DIE ZEIT

https://www.zeit.de/2013/42/luxusuhrenmarke-omega-weltmeere-greenwashing