2. What is Greenwashing?
• Seem more environmental
friendly than they actually
are.
• Environmental activist Jay
Westerveld in 1986.
• Resort- reuse towels -
expansion into the same
waters.
3. How is greenwashing unethical?
× Avoid hard work.
× Build a good image, gain competitive edge and seem
sustainable.
× Increase profit and target customers.
× Shift of focus
× These claims can actually harm the environment.
× Misleading people.
× Genuine companies suffer.
× Legal and trust issues in future.
× Ultimately obsolete or dangerous business.
4. How do they do it?
× Hidden tradeoffs.
× Wrong use of eco-friendly terms such as biodegradable and natural.
× Publicizing big, implementing small.
× Not providing proofs.
× False claims and images.
× Call for action and switch the product.
× Publicly supporting green but fighting green behind the scenes.
• Online marketing, Television marketing or traditional marketing.
5. Who does it?
• All kinds of industries.
• Top 3 industries: Kids/baby
products, cosmetics industry
and cleaning products.
Examples:
The bodyshop: Not so
transparent.
Products’ ingredients’ information
is not public.
6. Tide pureclean: Not so
clean
Johnson and Johnson: Tears for
future.
• Cancer causing ingredient
found in talcum powder.
• People/children claim burning
when touches the eye.
But what
about those
20%
petroleum
ingredients?
8. General motors
• “Gas-Friendly to Gas-Free” campaign - continues
to be the leading producer of gas automobiles.
• Chevy’s website, commercials and print ads
regularly contain green-friendly images. High
extent of misleading and false advertising the
green technologies - heavily producing gas
vehicles.
• Worse - Claimed to be a fuel solutions leader in
the media - hinder attempts of fuel economy
policies behind world’s back.
9. FORD
• Creates more eco - friendly vehicles than any other American manufacturer.
But Ford has six vehicles in the top 12 worst vehicles for the environment list (Ford F-350 FFV, Ford F-250
FFV, Ford E-350 Wagon, Ford F-150 Raptor, and Ford E-250 Van). – by Greencars.
• DC Auto show.
Claims to be green but only
one electric vehicle was at
the display.
• Political
Made green promises while
Obama was the president
who promoted clean energy.
But changed its green
agendas after trump
got elected.
10. Volkswagen
Promoting diesel as green. - 11 million of its supposedly clean diesel engines were fitted with software that
tricked emissions tests.
11. Solutions to Greenwashing
• Customers should research
• More Investigative Journalism.
• Publishers and advertisers should not promote.
• Just like fake internship – Not acceptable.
• Unclear regulation
12. Information and News sources
1. The guardian
2. Live mint
3. The torque report
4. Science direct
5. Ecowatch
6. truthadvertising.org
7. The green market oracle
8. seirraclub.org
9. College of Charleston, south
Carolina
10. Kristen Arnett
11. Medium
12. seagoinggreen.org
13. Independent
14. Marketingweek.com
15. The occidental news
16. Eluxe magazine
17. Business Insider
18. ethicalconsumer.org