Greenwashing 101
How to spot it, and how to stop it.
It’s becoming a familiar feeling. First, you think you’ve found a good one. You’re seduced by the sweet talk and promises – words like ‘conscious’, ‘thoughtful’, ‘recycled’ and ‘natural’. Then no sooner have you made the commitment than you discover... your new favourite brand is a problematic nightmare, and you have to break up. As Kermit once (almost) sang, it’s not easy being greenwashed.
Even if we think we’re wise to corporate bluffing, it can still be hard to sort the good from the greedy. After all, fashion’s biggest players have huge marketing budgets devoted to pulling the wool (or organic cotton, or recycled polyester) over our eyes.
Nuw founder Aisling caught up with the brilliant Amy Nguyen from Sustainable and Social on Instagram Live, to find out how to see beyond the green screen and find out the truth. Here’s what we learned.
WHAT IS GREENWASHING?
The concept was first flagged up back in 1970 by economist Milton Friedman, who referred to corporate social responsibility (CSR) statements as “hypocritical window dressing”.
“No one is holding brands to account.”
- Amy Nguyen
These days we call it greenwashing and it’s rife, especially in fashion, as companies adopt ethical buzzwords to capitalise on the ‘trend’ for sustainable consumption – without doing the work behind the scenes. “Words like ‘clean’, ‘transparent’ and ‘ethical’ are really quite wishy-washy,” explains Amy. “No one is holding brands to account.”
WHY IS GREENWASHING A PROBLEM?
We might think that greenwashing is evidence of a brand trying – albeit not hard enough – to join the right team, and that any conversation around sustainability and ethics is better than none. Certainly it’s true that for many shoppers, a ‘conscious’ collection from a big high street chain might be the first exposure they have to the whole idea of sustainable fashion.
But the fact remains that if we’re spending money on clothes with a shady backstory, we’re funding those brands rather than forcing them to do better. Anyone can draft a CSR statement or make nice-sounding pledges – but unless those claims are backed by credible data, nothing changes.
“The true antidote to greenwashing is knowledge”
- Orsola de Castro
Amy cites H&M’s Conscious Collection as a prime example. “It’s put sustainability on the map for everyday citizens who maybe don’t know that much about the environment or the social impact of who made our clothes. However, no matter how many ‘conscious’ collections a retailer [like H&M] puts out, it’s not going to negate the true cost they have had on the environment overall of those years. It just doesn’t add up,” she says. “A lot of people are starting to think: ‘wait a minute – if this is conscious, then what is the rest of it?’”
Fashion Revolution’s Orsola de Castro summises: “A greenwash could also be a precursor to real change, a step in the right direction. The true antidote to greenwashing is knowledge – be curious, find out and do something.”