Big corporations claim to be sustainable and environmental friendly- Is it always true? How can you recognize who is trustworthy?
Greenwashing is a term that continuously develops as our world is becoming more and more aware of the environment, and like every aspect in life there will be people who will try to turn it for their own good.
Greenwash Definition: 'Behavior or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is'.
Greenwashing is the marketing of an organization to appear more sustainable or environmental friendly (more organic, healthier, free of plastic, recycled, less waste, etc...) Where in reality it is often meaningless and polluting the environment and in most of the cases cost us more for nothing. The real impact of this abusive actions is not only lying but making people consume products that harm and pollute the planet without knowing that.
Many companies and organizations turn green these days but in order to make sure we are not supporting the misleading companies we made this guide to help you identify which company, organization or corporation is truly 'green':
Tricky language & Product's purpose: Don't fall into the misleading and inaccurate terms such as: eco-friendly, natural, green and organic. These are just some of the commonly used words that can be confusing. If they try to sell a product which is obviously not environmental friendly but uses tricky language, like bio-fuel. Fuel burning is polluting the air no matter how you produce it either from corn, fossil or any other material. For example, in 2008 Volkswagen announces new Clean Diesel cars. In 2015 the reality was revealed as United States Environmental Protection Agency had found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed diesel engines to activate their emission controls only during laboratory emissions testing but the vehicles emitted up to 40 times more in real-world driving.
Packaging: Companies often use a package color such as green or brown to invoke a sustainable product and mislead us to the illusion of environmental friendliness. In some cases they try to sell a polluting product in a recycled package.
Check the facts: Check the label, is it from a trustworthy organization that really makes sure that the production is not polluting? Just a green dot or leaf doesn't mean it is good for the environment. Always look for the information and resources by yourself, never trust the organization that has the interest to sell you.
Sustainable product, polluting factory: Make sure that the factory behind your product is not harming the environment. Are the employees working under a fair condition? Does the product contain polluting chemicals such as silicone, parabens, heavy metals and more?
These days it is harder to find out what the truth is, in the end these big companies are doing their best to make everything look so real. We hope that after reading this post, using our tips and becoming more aware of the situation you can support the right people to make the world better.
In B-Eco we always try to be as much transparent as we can to deliver the most sustainable and eco-friendly information and products, check Our Sustainable Shop to see a variety of reliable small businesses with products that match our values.
Thank you for reading, share with us your experience in the comments below and B-Eco!
For more examples about these big companies who claim to be environmental friendly