It’s easy to tell people what they want to hear.

 

Whether it’s the media, the consumer, the government or a regulator, companies know that questions will be asked about the environmental impact of their business. Their answers haven’t always been the whole truth.

 

In fact, greenwashing - where a company presents misleading or outright false information about how environmentally friendly their business or products are - is all too common. This is particularly the case when it comes to advertising, marketing, social media, or any other messaging to the public.

 

Greenwashing is a bad business practice.

 

It’s bad for the environment because instead of actual change happening, businesses are just paying lip service.

 

It’s bad for consumers because it erodes trust. It means that they may not buy genuinely more sustainable products because they don’t believe their claims, which hurts those who try to do better and benefits those who don’t.

 

It’s bad for your business because if customers don’t trust you or find that they’ve been lied to, they may take their business elsewhere. You could also face fines and legal action from regulators, alongside permanent reputation damage.

 

It’s no surprise then that tackling greenwashing is a priority for many governments - and it should be yours as well.

 

Legislation is Putting the Squeeze on Greenwashing

The use of greenwashing is so widespread that more legislation is now being introduced to tackle the problem.

 

Earlier this year, the EU Council adopted the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT). This means that from September 2026 the use of vague environmental terms without evidence will be outlawed in the EU. This includes familiar terms such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘green’, ‘natural’, ‘eco’, ‘biodegradable’ and ‘energy efficient’. 

 

Going forward, if you want to label your products as ‘eco-friendly’ you’ll need to prove that the whole product is more sustainable than others via certification by an approved scheme.

 

Businesses also won’t be able to claim that they are sustainable on the basis of a single environmentally friendly product range or initiative.

 

Another major change to be aware of is a ban on labelling products as ‘climate-neutral’ or ‘carbon-neutral’ through the use of carbon emissions offsetting.

 

The legislation is designed to empower consumers before they make a purchase and help them understand the sustainability benefits of different options. Key to this is the proven reliability of any environmental claims made, which has been a problem in the past. 

 

It’s not just the EU. In 2021, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published the Green Claims Code to help clarify existing obligations under consumer protection law that businesses need to comply with if making environmental claims.

 

The CMA has also been investigating individual companies and sectors to see if consumers have been misled, which could lead to enforcement action.

 

In 2022, the US’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a public consultation around possible changes to its Green Guides, which provide guidance to brands around making environmental claims. The results of this will be published in 2024. 

 

Wherever you do business in the world, now is the time to make sure that you’re not misleading customers through greenwashing.

 

How to Stop Greenwashing in Your Business

At a minimum, it’s vital that you make sure that your business is meeting any legal requirements around environmental claims, such as the EU’s new ECGT Directive.

 

But if you want to make sure that you’re tackling the mindset that can lead to greenwashing in your business, there are three things your business needs to be:

 

• Honest

• Specific

• Realistic

 

Be Honest

It seems obvious but honesty really is the best policy.

 

A lot of companies seem to have an issue with this because they worry that the truth doesn’t reflect well on them. If that’s the case, you need to take steps to improve the way your business operates, rather than just to deflect attention from what you’re not getting right.

 

Once you make any ‘green’ or ‘eco-friendly’ claims about your business, be sure that you can back them up. Ideally, this should be through external assessment and verification by a reputable and trusted third party, such as an approved government scheme.

 

Customers should be able to access the information that you use to substantiate any claims as much as is possible, so they can verify them for themselves. This may be via a QR code or your website, and should be in a format that is easy for anyone to understand.

 

It’s important to make sure that you don’t leave out any information that would conflict with any sustainability claims that you’re making. If the claim is genuine, you shouldn’t have to hide anything.

 

You should also consider the life cycle of the product to make sure that any changes you make to your business have a genuine environmental benefit and don’t just kick the problem into another - less well-monitored - corner. 

 

For example, if you decide to swap to a more sustainable material but this makes your products less durable - which means they have to be thrown away sooner - or impossible to recycle, is this actually the best choice for the environment?

 

Likewise, be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking a product is sustainable because you’ve improved one area - such as packaging - without looking at everything else connected to the manufacture, use and disposal of that product. That product may still not be particularly environmentally friendly when you factor in those elements.

 

If this is the case, it should be reflected in your messaging for that product so that it’s clear to consumers that only one aspect is more environmentally friendly.

 

All of this doesn’t mean that you’re free to just continue with business as usual on the basis that change isn’t a straightforward thing. What it does mean is that you need to communicate why you are - and why you’re not - doing certain things.

 

Be Specific 

As the EU’s new legislation demonstrates, it’s not enough to just say that your products are now more ‘environmentally friendly’ or ‘green’.

 

If it’s a genuine initiative or improvement, then you should be able to provide details about what you’re doing or what has changed. Rather than broad statements or vague terms, make sure you drill down into the specifics around any sustainability claims.

 

For example, in 2022 the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) reported that less than half of used clothes are collected for reuse or recycling when they are no longer needed. Even worse is that only 1 % are actually recycled into new clothes.

 

Yet, from a consumer perspective, it would be easy to believe that dropping unwanted clothes off at an in-store collection point means they will be made into new clothes. 

 

If your business collects unwanted clothes for recycling, share the details of what happens under the scheme with consumers.

 

For example, are they recycled into new clothes? Does your business sell those new clothes? Or are the clothes recycled into fibres that are used for other purposes? Why?

 

Likewise, if you have improved a product so it is more environmentally friendly than it used to be, or is more sustainable than alternatives on the market, explain clearly the reasons for this.

 

Make sure that you’re not misleading customers by making unfair comparisons - remember that you can’t compare apples with oranges. Comparisons should be meaningful, which means comparing products that do the same thing or meet the same needs. The same goes for things like materials.

 

You also need to be careful to make sure that you’re not misleading consumers through implication or suggestion. This includes the use of vague terms like ‘green’, but also the use of natural imagery, such as trees and leaves, or colours like green and brown. These could lead consumers to believe a product is more sustainable than it actually is - particularly when browsing a shelf or website.

 

Be Realistic

Any steps that your business takes to reduce its impact on the environment are positive ones. But make sure that you’re being realistic when communicating these to customers.

 

Above all, don’t try to paint a single improvement or product line as being representative of your entire business now being more sustainable. 

 

You also need to accept that lessening the impact your business has on the environment is an ongoing process. Part of this is being transparent with consumers about where your business is now, your plans to improve things, and your progress - good or bad - in implementing those plans.

 

It’s also unrealistic to assume that any evidence that you have to support your claims will remain up-to-date and accurate forever. This means you need to have processes in place to regularly check any sustainability claims and that you have current, credible evidence to back them up.

 

Likewise, if you feel that an environmental claim is no longer verifiable, you need to adjust or remove it as soon as possible to prevent misleading customers.

 

Transparency Prevents Greenwashing

Adopting an approach of transparency and honesty is the best way to prevent greenwashing.

 

By only making sustainability claims that are truthful, accurate, unambiguous, and backed by credible, up-to-date evidence, you can avoid misleading customers about your business and the products you sell.

 

Going through the process of examining your business for the possibility of greenwashing may also help you to identify key areas where you can make improvements, which is good for everyone.