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Greenwashing vs green marketing

With sustainability becoming more and more prevalent in today's fashion world, it is important that we, as consumers, do not fall into greenwashing's trap.



What is greenwashing?

Greenwashing is when a company or retailer conveys a false impression of their environmental-friendliness or sustainability and therefore deceives consumers. Additionally, some brands will use their sustainable or recycled collections to distract the consumer from their other unsustainable activities. An example of this was in the 1980s when the oil company Chevron publicised their environmental efforts, but was later found to be violating the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act and it was revealed that the company had been spilling oil in wildlife refuges.


Some brands can be guilty of greenwashing without even realising - it can often be a consequence of a brand being too enthusiastic and therefore over-embellishing the benefits of a product. This is often done through hypocrisy. For example, a sustainable product has been created by a brand that manufactures in factories that pollute their local rivers. Greenwashing can also be inadvertently used by brands if, within their marketing and PR, the brand uses sustainable buzzwords, such as ‘natural’ or ‘eco-friendly’, with no evidence to support those claims.



How is greenwashing different from real green marketing?

Greenwashing is unpurposefully (or purposefully) conveying a false impression of a brand’s sustainability and environmental-friendliness. True green marketing is the opposite. Real green marketing provides claims that are supported by statistics and facts and are clear to the consumer. Honesty is at the heart of real green marketing so that there is no consumer deception and that the brand or retailer is being transparent with their actions.


How can you identify it?

Some easy ways to identify if a brand is greenwashing or not does take a bit of digging but is worth figuring out if you want to shop more sustainably.


Here are some questions you can ask of a brand to help you spot greenwashing:

  • Is the brand using recycled fabrics or fabrics that are recyclable?

  • During manufacturing, is the brand’s garment production process releasing harmful chemicals into the air or water?

  • Is the brand using slave labour, child labour and/or not paying their workers a living wage?

  • How much excessive packaging is the brand using when delivering online orders? Is each item wrapped individually in plastic?


I hope this information and these tips help you look deeper into the brands you love. Are they guilty of greenwashing?


Thanks for reading!



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