Greenwashing: What Is It and Why Should You Care?
If you're environmentally-conscious like me, you probably love finding "green" products that are better for the environment. Sustainability has become a lot more important for consumers in the past decade and companies have taken note. These days, when you look through the aisles at any store, you'll likely see a lot of green packaging with nature-based images claiming that the product it contains is "eco-friendly". But what does that actually mean?
Greenwashing is a huge problem in all industries.
Companies know that consumers are willing to pay more for a sustainable product, which is why so many of the biggest companies in America have focused attention on going green. But many of them are participating in greenwashing.
Green washing is when companies use deceptive marketing tactics to make you believe the product you're buying is good for the environment. There are many ways to do this. Often, just putting a green label on something or a picture of a field or some other natural element on the packaging is enough to form the idea in someone's mind that this product is environmentally-friendly.
Beyond that, companies often will use vague terms such as "eco-friendly" to describe their products. While this may entice you to choose this product over another one that doesn't claim to be good for the environment, think about what the phrase actually means. What about this product is eco-friendly? Are the materials biodegradable? Are there harmful chemicals in the product? Can I recycle or repurpose it when I'm done with it? If you can't answer these questions then you should be questioning how eco-friendly the product actually is.
The fashion industry takes part in greenwashing too.
Many clothing companies are coming out with sustainable fashion lines, and this is definitely something to look for when purchasing from these companies. There are plenty of credible brands that have actually sustainable and ethical production practices, but the fashion industry is not immune to greenwashing either. Look for these same signs when buying clothes - a company claiming they are "green" without any further information about how they manufacture or what they are doing to be more sustainable is a red flag.
We should all be more aware of what we are buying.
With clothes, as with any other products we buy, we should all be a little more curious about where it came from and what affects it may have on the world. That's not to say every product you buy has to be perfectly sustainable, waste-free, and chemical-free, but just be a little more conscious of what you are spending your money on. And if you want to make the effort to be a more sustainable consumer, watch out for the signs of greenwashing next time you go shopping.
