Marketers and communications professionals have an important role to play in combatting climate change. We need more companies talking more often and more effectively about their environmental and social actions. Unfortunately too many marketing and comms teams lack the knowledge and expertise. They fall into one of two camps – they greenwash, or they greenhush. Both these camps slow progress towards a cleaner, greener future, but today I’m focusing on the seven greenwashing sins I see companies committing most often.
What Is greenwashing?
Greenwashing is giving customers the false impression that your product or service is more environmentally sound than it is. It can be communicated through words but also using imagery. Most greenwashing is unintentional and occurs because of a lack of awareness of how to communicate green claims (sustainability initiatives) effectively.
Greenwash can be found everywhere: on products, packaging, company websites and in online, television, audio and print advertising.
Why is greenwashing problematic?
Greenwashing makes it hard (if not impossible) for people, companies and investors to make informed choices about the products and services they purchase. Between 80 and 89% of the world’s people are concerned about climate change and want more action. Greenwashing inhibits this. It muddies the waters, preventing us from making the most sustainable choices.
What are the penalties for greenwashing?
The law is tightening on companies that greenwash their claims. In the UK, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has given the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) the power to investigate, determine breaches and fine companies up to 10% of global turnover for greenwashing.
The risks don’t end there. Reputational damage for greenwashing can be just as damaging and can lead to customers, investors and talent losing confidence in your business and going elsewhere.
Guidance is available
Fortunately, the UK government is stepping up with advice and services to help companies check their green claims.
The CMA has produced comprehensive guidelines called the Green Claims Code. Meanwhile, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has released rules on environmental and climate based advertising as set out in this guidance document.
So what are the 7 pitfalls to avoid?
Pitfall 1: Broad language
This is one of the most common mistakes I see. Companies label things “sustainable”, “green”, “eco-friendly”, “good”, “low-impact”, “earth-first”, and “better for the planet”. These terms are far too broad. They can mean different things to different people and are difficult to prove. Avoid these terms at all costs.
A high profile example of a company falling at this particular hurdle was Etihad Airlines. They claimed: “we’re taking a louder, bolder approach to sustainable aviation”. The ASA deemed this to be too vague (and probably completely implausible too).
Claims must be specific and clear. Start by stating specifically what your claim relates to, ie. your company / product / service / packaging / raw material / delivery. Then be clear about what the claim is, ie. home-compostable packaging / 20% less plastic / a 12% reduction in business travel emissions / pesticide-free production / all deliveries carried out by electric vehicles.
Pitfall 2: Jargon!
Too many companies use language and acronyms that cause confusion. Remember, most people don’t know the difference between Net Zero and Carbon Neutral. Terms like LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), GHG and CO2e can also trip up your audience and prevent them understanding what your claim is about.
Overcome this challenge by writing your claims in plain language and providing definitions for lesser known terminology.
Pitfall 3: Lack of evidence
When you make a green claim you must provide proof that it is true. Be careful! Results of any tests that are carried out must be specific to the conditions you are claiming.
A baby-wipe company came unstuck by providing evidence relating to compostability that led customers to think they could compost the wipes in their garden compost bin, only to find them still intact 3 months later. The tests were carried out in optimal conditions, and didn’t reflect the realities of home composting. The company had to remove the claim.
The proof doesn’t have to be on the product, but should be accessible to the person reading / hearing the claim by way of a QR code or a link to further information.
Pitfall 4: Lack of transparency
This is another common one. It often takes the form of ‘greenlighting’ which is when companies only talking about the positive things they’re doing without proper context (à la HSBC who ran ads promoting their planting 2 million trees to lock in 1.25 million tonnes of CO2, whilst conveniently forgetting their financing of polluting companies that contribute much more CO2 to the atmosphere).
Pitfall 5: Setting future goals without a pathway for achieving them
Yes, this is greenwashing! Sadly, it’s all too common for companies to set out their ambitions such as “we’ll be Net Zero by 2035” and then neglect to form an actionable plan for how they are going to achieve it.
If you are going to share an ambition, back it up with a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) plan to achieve it. With a plan in place organisations should then report progress towards their goals and learnings on an annual basis (find out more about impact reporting here).
Pitfall 6: Poor use of labels / certifications
There are around 500 labels and certifications in the market across 25+ industries. They all have different criteria and are assessed differently. Some are simply paid for badges that you can slap on your product or service with no third party audit / verification.
My advice would be to do your due diligence on the label itself, and also with your customers and other stakeholders to find out if they know what it means before spending the money / doing the work to get it.
Pitfall 7: Misleading use of nature imagery and colours
The CMA and ASA aren’t only looking at text. They also consider where imagery or use of colour might mislead customers into thinking something is more eco-friendly than it is. You should be judicious in your use of greens, beiges, browns and images of green meadows, blue skies and oceans and stripey bumblebees.
Wrapping up
Now you’ve read about the seven most common greenwashing sin and how to avoid them, it’s time to get down to the job of sharing your organisation’s actions to reduce its negative impact and positively tackle climate change. Remember, we need more stories of trying, achieving, attempting and even failing to move us forward.
If you’d like help communicating your organisation’s green claims, get in touch.