Why do we not have clear guidelines to avoid Green Washing?

The Irish times has published an article entitled “Five trends in Green Finance”. It states that:

“The European Commission published a statement this year estimating that 42 per cent of corporate websites contain “exaggerated, false or deceptive and could potentially qualify as unfair commercial practices under EU rules”.

I have often asked myself “Why do we not have clear guidelines and benchmarks established by our leaders to avoid Green Washing?”

One would think that after the Paris agreement becoming such a landmark treaty that laws and systems would have been put in place by now to ensure its validity. 

Evidently, we are not there yet.

The term Greenwashing was first coined in the 1980's to describe behaviour or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it actually is.

So what can you do to avoid green washing?

In your organisation:

1. Never ever claim you do more than what you actually do. Be honest and transparent in your environmental claims. Don’t be afraid to show your own shortcomings when it comes to sustainability.
2. Measure your environmental impact and report on your data. Data is gold because it is measurable. It demonstrates that regardless of the numbers, you are indeed measuring your impact. 
3. Publish your environmental Data and Plan on your website. I often meet Hotel teams that have made huge efforts to reduce their environmental impact, but have never talked about it. Create a Green Page on your website and outline

• What are your Green KPIs
• What have you done so far
• What you commit to do in the next 12 months.

As a consumer:

We often forget that as consumers, we have the power to decide where we spend our money.

We have the power to elevate those companies and products that are environmentally friendly. The catch is, there are many brands out there confusing the terminology to make us believe they are sustainable, when in reality, they are manipulating consumers as they know sustainability has come to the forefront in society.

1. Be aware that Green Washing is happening. As per the EU report, 42% of companies were found to green wash. It is happening all around us and so we should not believe everything we read.
2. When in doubt, check their website to ensure their green claims are real. Be wary of any brand that has a so-called “Environmental Policy”. I often say that a policy without a plan, goals and targets, are just words written on a piece of paper. Invest a couple of minutes of your day to check their website, a truly green company, will give you their environmental data and forward plans for the future.
3. Be aware of the labels. Cruelty-free, not tested on animals, sustainable, biodegradable/compostable/recyclable – these terms are only meaningful if they are accompanied by an explanation about the claim the company is making. 

Just because a product has a “sustainable label”, it doesn’t mean they are.

Many labels have just been created to deceive consumers and enhance brand reputation. 

I recommend you watch Seaspiracy a Netflix documentary, where the authors go behind the scenes of many “sustainable labels”. The documentary has faced criticism in many aspects but it has also revealed several truths about how corporations and business models are trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

For example the “Dolphin safe Tuna” label has been controversial since its inception. Many U.S. labels that carry dolphin safe labels are amongst the least sustainable for oceans, according to Greenpeace's 2017 Shopping Guide.

Green washing poses many problems. For me personally, the biggest fear is that the exposure of these false claims will make consumers recoil from sustainability and create distrust in this very important area of our consumerist habits.

We should be able to trust the brands and products we spend our money on.

There needs to be clarity and proper laws around the creation of “labels” and “sustainable products”, because the responsibility should not fall on the consumer to investigate, it is down to our leaders to police and safeguard our interests.