Today, we are getting into greenwashing! Greenwashing is becoming prevalent as more and more brands start to appeal to a broader range of consumers who are more conscious of where their products end up. What is it? How to spot it? And what you can do about it?

What is Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is a way to increase sales by saying that a product or company is environmentally friendly when in reality, it’s the exact opposite. They essentially can say they are doing great things for our mother earth but do not have to show any evidence to their statement. By making false promises, companies are making an insane amount of money from deceiving us.

Walk into any grocery store, and you can spot a product that is greenwashing. You’ll find most of them in grocery stores, both physical and online stores. Bio, sustainable and green, well, they all really lack a solid and clear definition.

In the fashion industry, the Most common brand known for greenwashing is H&M Conscious Collection. They mass produce cheaply made clothing; the quality of the clothes is so low that it rubs down in no time. The ideology behind this was to make consumers return to the store and buy garments every six months.

Besides, they mistreat their workers in foreign countries by paying them too low wages to survive. About, six years ago, they set a goal to pay all of their workers a living wage by 2018, but today the goal has just disappeared from their targets.

They also claim to produce sustainable garments, but their clothes are the same as their regular clothing line. If they do have a change in the material, it is very minimal such as a sweater is 95% polyester and unsustainable material, but 5% wool.

They do have a recycling program, but they take the clothing and sell it to companies that recycle it. Also, if a garment has mixed fabrics, there is no way to separate them for recycling.

How to Spot Greenwashing?

It can be pretty hard to spot greenwashing sometimes, so here are some helpful tips to guide you:

Buzzwords

Beware when you see terms like ‘natural’ ‘, Plant-based, or ‘biodegradable’ because There is no government regulation for this word. Any company can use it freely.

Ingredients

When searching for a product, always look at what it contains and familiarize yourself with the harmful ingredients of certain products.

Detect Greenwashing Using Apps

Use apps to navigate greenwashing Good on You for fashion, Think Dirty for beauty products, Healthy Living by Environmental Working Group for cleaning products.

Look for Certified Eco Labels

Some eco-labels include badges of approval from fair-trade, the EPA’S safer choice, green seal and B corporation certification, etc. These assessments signify that the products have met specific criteria and meet federal or international regulation standards. But if there is an eco-label that you don’t recognize, you can verify online on platforms like ecolabel index.

Greenwashing is all about misleading content and information. Sometimes the impact is created unintentionally, but most of the time it’s not. Most of the companies are still trying to carry out sustainable practices successfully, but most of the work boils down to consumers. Being a conscious consumer is difficult but if you’re really passionate about being an environmentalist, the best way to avoid getting greenwash is to do your own research and if possible, buy fewer things and also, make sure that you genuinely cherish what you are buying and actually need it.