Greenwashing is bad business
“83% [of consumers] trust a company more if it is socially and/or enviromentally responsible,” according to a 2007 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey. A BusinessWeek survey showed that “Consumers are 66% more likely to purchase a product if they believe the company is environmentally conscious.”
With growing demand for environmentally friendly goods and services, many companies have developed cost-effective ways of improving their environmental performance and the environmental performance of their offerings. Unfortunately, some companies engage in a practice that has become known as greenwashing — using creative advertising to appear environmentally friendly without making the investment to provide more environmentally friendly goods and services.
The practice appears to be growing and purchasers are learning that they must carefully examine all environmental claims to ensure the environmental benefits they seek are reflected in the products and services they buy.
To avoid being guilty of greenwashing, be sure your marketing does not use one of these greenwashing “sins”:
1. Sin of Fibbing
2. Sin of Unsubstantiated Claims — ”Just trust us” isn’t going to cut it. Don’t use words like “green” or “eco” in your corporate or product names and hope no one asks for details.
3. Sin of Irrelevance — If it has been legally banned for years, it isn’t relevant.
4. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off — All around gains in environmental friendliness are key. Focus on all aspects of how your product/service can be more friendly.
5. Sin of Vagueness — Be specific about what you are doing.
6. Sin of Relativism — Make sure your claims really matter — that they are relevant. If your product is best in it’s class, but a different class is more appropriate, it isn’t environmentally friendly.
You can read more about Greenwashing at Paperspecs.com.
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