Greenwashing, or playing green

Buying a cosmetic in a green box, GMO-free eggs or a drink in a recycled plastic bottle? You may have just been fooled by greenwashing. What is it? Why is it dangerous? How do you recognize it?

Is eco-pea coal green? After all, it’s a fuel made from coal, and coal can hardly be called green. However, it contains less sulfur than hard coal, so less poisonous sulfur oxides are produced when it is burned. That’s where the possible environmental benefits end. As researchers from the University of Warsaw have shown, its combustion emits excessive amounts of dust (up to 40 times more), carbon oxides and nitrogen oxides, as well as carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene (the study (text in Polish) was commissioned by the ClientEarth Lawyers for the Earth Foundation).

This does not change the fact that 23 percent of those heating their homes and apartments with coal considered eco-pea coal to be… an environmentally friendly product. Among its most important features – in addition to its high calorific value – they indicated that it is environmentally friendly, does not cause smog and does not have harmful effects on health (Kantar survey (in Polish) for ClientEarth Lawyers for the Earth Foundation).

Why such a discrepancy? Were consumers fooled by the name and green packaging?

It appears that they are. That’s why the ClientEarth Foundation Lawyers for the Earth sued one of the manufacturers of eco-pea coal for grenwashing in 2021. After three years, the lawsuit ended in a court settlement. The company is to withdraw from the use of the name “ eco-pea” and abandon packaging that suggests the product’s eco-friendliness – green and containing plant motifs.

Are towels saving the world

Eco-pea coal that is ecological only in name is just one example of greenwashing. A practice that seeks to portray products or services as environmentally beneficial, even though they are not necessarily so. It is misleading to consumers.

The term was coined in 1986 by U.S. environmentalist Jay Westervelt, who in an article for the New York Times described his impressions of a stay at a hotel. The institution encouraged its guests not to change their towels every day – this way less water and detergent would be used.

The tourism industry has a huge impact on the environment, Westervelt noted, with the hotel focusing on just one small thing it wants to change (and in the process save its staff money and time). He compared the practice to whitewashing, or bleaching.

The first greenwashing practices coincided in the 1980s with the development of environmental awareness among consumers. It was then, for example, that deodorant sprays that contained freon appeared on the market, and it broke through to public awareness that they were contributing to the widening of the ozone hole.

The change in consumer attitudes was recognized by the market. More and more messages emphasizing environmental issues began to appear, and customers paid increasing attention to them. This feedback is highlighted by the authors of the Ecobarometer survey report (in Polish) (SW Research, 2024): “As sensitivity to environmental issues grows, so does the appetite of businesses to use green arguments to enhance the appeal of their products and services. And, according to the survey, for nearly 7 in 10 (68 percent) consumers, it is important that manufacturers of various brands are committed to environmental protection and ecology, with nearly half (46 percent) admitting that they try to choose brands that actively engage in efforts to combat climate change.”

66 percent of Poles admitted that it is important to them that products and services are created with respect for the environment. At the same time, a third believe that advertisements referring to ecology are just a marketing ploy.

“Eco-marketing skepticism resounds in the report in many ways. Nearly 7 in 10 consumers (68 percent) support the claim that green slogans are used only for promotional purposes. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) agree that most brands treat green activities only as an image-enhancing activity. Nearly 6 in 10 consumers (58 percent) complain that companies exaggerate the use of ecology in their marketing campaigns.” – write the report’s authors. Sound like the definition of greenwashing? Well, it is.

Seven sins of greenwashing

The marketing game of going green can take many forms. Mostly there is talk of the seven sins of greenwashing, described in 2010 by environmental marketing agency TerraChoice. Its research shows that 98 percent of products commit at least one of them. These sins are:

1. the sin of hidden compromise – when a company emphasizes certain features of a product while hiding others (e.g., it praises that its paper comes from sustainably grown forests, without mentioning that chlorine was used to bleach it);
2. the sin of lack of evidence – when the information on the packaging is not supported by data or reliable certifications;
3. the sin of lack of precision – when, for example, a company writes about its product that it is “100 percent natural” – arsenic, mercury or formaldehyde occur in nature, which does not mean they are good for our health;
4. the sin of false labeling – such as “environmentally friendly,” “in harmony with nature,” overuse of the color green or nature motifs in packaging;
5. sin of irrelevance – making true claims, but irrelevant or unhelpful to the environment (e.g., CFC-free deodorant – CFC is banned in cosmetics production, so no deodorant contains it; GMO-free eggs);
6. the sin of the lesser of two evils – giving information to distract the consumer from the ill effects of the product on his health or the environment (e.g., organic cigarettes);
7. the sin of lying – giving false information.

Can a plastic bottle be eco-friendly

Examples of the use of greenwashing are numerous. One of the most frequently cited is the 2015 “emissions scandal” involving Volkswagen. In its marketing communications, the company emphasized the lower emissions and environmentally friendly features of its cars. It used the slogan “Clean Diesel,” and the 2009 VW Jetta Diesel Sedan was even voted Green Car of the Year. In fact, TDI diesel cars emitted 40 times more nitrogen oxide than allowed by standards.

Dieselgate exploded when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found violations of the Clean Air Act. The corporation admitted that engines had been deliberately programmed to show lower emissions during lab tests. More than 11 million VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat vehicles sold between 2009 and 2015 worldwide were affected.

Manufacturers of beverages in plastic bottles are also being caught greenwashing. Environmental and consumer rights organizations issued a so-called external warning to the European Commission and EU consumer bodies in late 2023 against Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone for using misleading “100% recycled” and “100% recyclable” declarations on water bottles. In addition, decorated with “green” graphic motifs.

This is because bottles are never made entirely of recycled plastic; this raw material, moreover, unlike glass, cannot be recycled indefinitely. It is impossible to produce a bottle from recycled plastic alone. In addition, plastic waste is a growing global problem – there is no place in the world today that is not contaminated with plastic. Only 9 percent of the waste produced from this material is recycled. (We wrote about this in our blog – “Plastic non fantastic.”)

Coca-Cola itself came under criticism in 2019 after it sent empty bottles of its drinks to Polish influencers and journalists. It was part of a campaign to draw attention to the problem of plastic pollution and encourage recycling. The recipients were supposed to dispose of their bottles in appropriate trash garbage cans.

Coca-Cola is the world’s largest beverage producer and, according to Greenpeace, the brand responsible for the most plastic pollution. The problem is the production of the packaging itself, so the solution would be to reduce the amount of packaging, not recycle it.

Clothing companies are often accused of greenwashing (we wrote about how fast fashion is harmful to the environment in our blog – “How much does a T-shirt really cost?”). A journalistic investigation by the Quartz portal found that H&M misrepresented data on the environmental impact of its products in its online store.

Nor is aviation sustainable, which is why an Amsterdam court in 2024 ruled that KLM Airlines was misleading in its “sustainable flying” advertisements. The court also said that the carrier’s advertising that suggests that buying emissions offsets by planting trees reduces or offsets the climate impact of flying are illegal.

– The court was clear: companies that claim to be fighting climate change, while in reality fueling the crisis, are acting illegally, commented Hiske Arts of Fossielvrij, one of the organizations that brought the lawsuit against the airlines (quoted by ClientEarth.pl).

FIFA was also not immune from greenwashing, describing the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as the first “fully CO₂-neutral.” After the event, the federation submitted a report that calculated its carbon footprint and described how it was compensated. It was challenged by five countries, and their complaint was heard by the Justice Commission, which in Switzerland (where FIFA is headquartered) serves as the regulator for the advertising and communications industry. It found that FIFA’s assertions were false and misleading.

How to fight it?

Until now, greenwashing practices could be combated on the basis of consumer protection laws. On the ground of the European Union, an amendment to the Unfair Trade Practices Directive and the Directive on Environmental Claims (“green claims”), which will come into force in 2026, will help.

According to it, companies that make voluntary environmental declarations for their products or use eco-labeling systems will have to justify them using clear criteria and backed by the latest scientific evidence. Their declarations will be checked by accredited verifiers.

It will no longer be possible to write about a product that it is “environmentally friendly,” “green” or “sustainable” – because what exactly does that mean? Companies will have to revise their communication strategies so as not to violate regulations and mislead their customers. Otherwise, they face penalties.

And in the meantime – it’s worth reading labels and advertisements carefully and critically, as well as checking certifications (here you can find those awarded to food and cosmetics – in Polish), remembering that not everything that has green packaging is eco.

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