Greenwashing: Eco-friendly practices that aren’t green or clean

Greenwashing: Eco-friendly practices that aren’t green or clean

By Joseph Valenti, Biology, 2023

Whether it is misleading labeling in order to make a product to seem greener, or directly misreporting statistics, the “greenwashing” phenomenon plagues corporate America. While strolling through the aisles of various grocery stores, you’ll see shelves are stocked with products branded with words like “natural” or “organic” despite not being any healthier or more environmentally friendly.

The phrase “greenwashing” was coined by Jay Westerveld in 1986 while staying at a Beachcomber Resort in Fiji. Westerveld noticed how the hotel asked guests to turn in their towels to help avoid wasting the environment’s valuable resources. Westerveld realized that the true reason for this environmentally friendly campaign was to save the hotel from having to buy more towels and acknowledged the irony that the hotel went through many other resources without ever thinking about the environment.

Despite the naming of the phenomenon having been over thirty years ago, there have been few attempts to limit it. These misleading advertisements are perfectly legal, so it falls on the consumer to avoid being deceived. Even actions that are illegal often go unchecked. A string of car corporations including BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz were faced with allegations regarding their clean diesel cars releasing nitrogen oxide at 65 times the rate that the EPA allows. While these companies are now facing lawsuits, their greenwashed cars have been spewing nitrogen oxide into the air for many years now. Nestle has also recently come under fire for claiming that they used sustainably-sourced cocoa beans in their chocolate products, but in reality, they contributed to rapid deforestation in West Africa.

These misleading advertisements are perfectly legal, so it falls on the consumer to avoid being deceived.

While these cases are coming to light, they are just the companies that were unlucky enough to get caught. Their destructive lies already took their toll on the environment, and while the lawsuits are stopping these specific cases, many other companies are just as destructive and not receiving penalties for their crimes against the environment. With the ever-intensifying climate and environmental crises at hand, greenwashing is a devastating setback for the average person trying to make a change. Research is necessary to become aware of the companies that can actually be trusted in order to take steps towards a positive change.

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