Greenwash

by frog

1. What is Greenwash?
2. The Advertising Standards Authority and how to complain about Greenwash.
3. Greenwash resources.

What is Greenwash?

GreenWash is advertising, PR or spin that presents a government, company or its products as more environmentally friendly than is true.  In other words Greenwash is companies playing on our better angels as consumers and shoppers to do something good for the environment by twisting the truth or even lying to us so we will buy their products.  Ed Gillepsie from Futurra describes it thus:

Greenwash isn’t simply annoying, it’s dangerous. In a market economy the consumer is king, and consumers have started sending strong environmental signals through their purchasing. This growing ‘green [dollar]’ is a powerful force compelling the economy to clean up its environmental act.

But consumers often rely on advertising and other corporate messaging to inform their purchasing choices, and greenwash is undermining confidence in that advertising… Without confidence in the claims, consumers are reluctant to exercise the power of their green purchasing, as they no longer know who or what to believe.

Luckily we have the power to clean away greenwash.  Take for example this successful compliant by a Green Party member in September 2007 to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) against Saab Motors for advertising that claimed that every Saab is ‘green’ and ‘carbon neutral’.

The Advertising Standards Authority

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is a self-regulatory body that you can complain to about any advertising in New Zealand which breaches the ASA Codes of Practice.  It provides the rules by which all advertisements in all media should comply. You can complain, at no cost, about any advertisement in any media which you believe breaches the Codes. Complaints are heard by an independent Advertising Standards Complaints Board (ASCB)

The ASA Code covers all advertising containing claims for environmental benefit and includes packaging shown in advertisements.  It does not allow generalised or absolute claims (such as “environmentally friendly”) that an advertiser cannot prove.

All advertising claims must be able to be substantiated, meet relevant local or international standards (e.g. ‘biodegradable’, ‘organic’ etc) and be clear about exactly how the product benefits the environment (e.g. ‘our product X is kinder to Mother Nature’ is unclear and thus unacceptable but ‘our CFC-free product X is kinder to the ozone layer’ would be acceptable)

You can read more about making a complaint to the ASA and download a complaint form here.

Greenwash resources

• The latest frogblog posts on Greenwash

Greenwash resources from others

• The Greenwashing Index – The Greenwashing Index is an automated tool that provides five simple criteria developed by advertising academics. So, if you’ve seen a good or bad ad heralding the environmental qualities of a product or company, post it here, rank it according to the Greenwashing Index, and then come back to see how other consumers score it.
• Celsias links to and discusses Futerra’s Greenwash Guide (2.8MB pdf download)
• TreeHugger talks about the phenomenon of GreenHush; One of greenwashing’s negative effects is that it dissuades genuinely green companies from promoting their own far more substantial green practices. Companies that are authentically doing good stay silent, for fear that they’ll be tarred with the same brush as those who are carrying on with business as usual.
• A BBC viewpoint on greenwashing companies using the actual colour green in their advertising.
• Celsias’ 2008 Unenvironmental Awards includes a number of companies that still just don’t get it.
• Unsuitablog and Nature Magazine have both got guides to help consumers spot greenwash

Photo Credit: Greenpeace

Photo Credit: Rainforest Action Network