Green Washing: Literature Review

Green Washing

Literature Review

Greenwashing is the practice of companies deceitfully turning their policies and products as “environmentally friendly”, such as by presenting cost cuts as reductions in use of resources. It is a deceiving utilization of green PR or green marketing. Green washing is basically a marketing technique in which a company falsely claims environmental responsibility. As more and more consumers are concerned about sustainability and the environment, a growing number of corporations have stepped up, claiming to be improving their environmental practices and reforming their industries. While this may certainly be true in some cases, many of the claims of environmental stewardship made by companies are actually false, or at the very least extremely misleading (Hume, 1991).

Greenwash is an environmental claim which is unsubstantiated (a fib) or irrelevant (a distraction) found in advertising, PR or on packaging, and made about people, organizations and products. Greenwash is an old concept, wrapped in a very modern incarnation, and its prevalence is growing. Consumers often rely on advertising and other corporate messaging to inform their purchasing choices, and greenwashing is undermining confidence in that advertising. That confidence is now at an all time low, with only 10 percent of consumers trusting green information from business and government. Without confidence in the claims, consumers are reluctant to exercise the power of their green purchasing, as they no longer know who or what to believe. This puts the whole green market in danger and might damage the virtuous circle of companies promoting their green products, consumers choosing them over non-green products thereby encouraging business towards greater greenness. The Guide offers some simple steps that can be taken by companies, agencies and the public to stamp out greenwashing (Rathje, 1991).

Purpose of Green Washing Marketing

Green washing is one of the hottest trends being used by marketers these days. In 1989 it barely existed, but by 1990 it was all the rage. In the past decade, Americans have displayed an increasing concern for the environment as they begin to realize it is slowly deteriorating. More than seventy percent of the 180 million tons of trash disposed each year in the United States is buried in landfills, and the landfills are reaching capacity. On top of this, the hole in the ozone layer continues to grow larger, threatening numerous amounts of people with skin cancer (Freeman, 1990). In response, companies must begin to make changes to their products, their claims, packaging, and manufacturing processes in order to offer consumers a cleaner and safer environment. Some companies have already started to engage in 'green washing activities.' For example, Procter and Gamble is now packaging Tide, Cheer, Era, and Dash in bottles made of twenty five percent recycled plastic and has introduced the first ever concentrated fabric softener refill package (Lesh, 1991)

. Many other companies have also jumped on the new environmental marketing bandwagon. For instance, in Toronto, Canada, the Loblaw grocery chain provides customers with its own private label line called President's Choice ...