Greenwashing

Greenwashing is when a company or organisation spends more time and money claiming to be ‘green’ through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact. This is to convince consumers that they are doing good for the planet by shopping with them, even though their practices are not sustainable.  

For example, a company may have a sustainable collection, but not all of their products are sustainable. Or, part of a product may be sustainable, for example, “contains organic cotton”. Colour schemes using natural colours may also be used to convince us that those items are good for the planet, such as beige and green coloured clothes or clothing tags. 

Lately, many businesses’ advertisements portray a sustainable development issue and make a connection with their product, in an attempt to appear eco-friendly and sustainable. For example, they may talk about clothing waste, but continue to mass produce clothes!