3 company greenwashing examples
In my work as a sustainability ranker at a reknown benchmark, I often come across a wide range of surprisingly well written greenwashing in companies’ sustainability reports and web pages.
Sometimes these sentences are that good that even I don’t notice their empty meaning at first.
In this blog, I share their smartest ones with you and explain what’s going on:
“We have a direct interest in acting to protect the environment, as our drinks are largely made of ingredients produced by our planet (fruit, sugar and water).”
Of course those ingredients are produced by our planet - which company did ever source its ingredients from Mars?! This sentence actually tells you nothing at all.
“ Greenhouse gas emissions have a major impact on climate. That’s why one of our core priorities is to reduce the impact our activities may generate. We measure and analyze our impact, then put plans into action to reduce our carbon emissions throughout our processes.”
OK, thanks for the info and good to know you set your priorities along this — but what kind of impact are you actually talking about and what..plans.. are you putting into which…action, reducing how much carbon emissions? I need numbers and concrete plans!
“With sustainability, quality and quirky design in focus, (…) created clothes that parents like to dress their kids in and that kids love to wear. The (…) winter collection is made out of 35% sustainable materials: all materials are either organic or recycled.” Nice try, but the greenwashing in here is in the organic and recycled materials that are not further specified in any reknown (inter)national standard for organic or recycled certification of fibres.
While the above is just a small selection of greenwashing sentences in sustainability reporting, there are of course many other examples to find.
If you want to recognize greenwashing in the future, just remember this: greenwashing withholds you exactness in numbers, percentages, goals, and results.
Please feel free to comment/ ask my opinion on your greenwashing suspicions.
Bewaren