The "Six Sins of Greenwashing"
and how to effectively check your content for greenwashing traps
Welcome to The Crisps–your weekly newsletter on anti-greenwashing and honest fashion communication. In this issue, we look at the “Six Sins of Greenwashing” and how you can effectively check your content for greenwashing traps.
While the EU Green Claims Directive is still being discussed at the committee stage in Parliament, there’s already been progress in tackling greenwashing on the EU level.
In January, the EU Parliament adopted a directive that bans the use of general environmental claims (unless companies have proof), making it easier for consumers to know which sustainability claims hold what they promise.1
The ban includes:
👉 “environmentally friendly”
👉 “natural”
👉 “biodegradable”
👉 “climate neutral”
👉 “eco”
However, greenwashing doesn’t just evolve around single words. To effectively communicate without greenwashing, we have to understand WHAT it means in more detail and which layers there are.
In this issue, we take a deeper dive into greenshifting, greenlighting, and other layers of greenwashing. And we introduce a framework that helps to identify greenwashing in your communication. If we were you, we’d start checking all of our digital content and collect phrases that need to be adapted or taken down.
5 Layers of Greenwashing
Greenwashing can be split up into different layers.2 Understanding them is essential to learn what NOT to put out in the future. These are the most common ones:
🔸 Greenshifting: Implying that the consumer is at fault and shifting the blame on them. Example: A fashion brand claims to produce “ethical” clothing but suggests that consumers need to buy more of their products to “save” the environment, placing the responsibility solely on the consumer.
🔸 Greenlighting: Highlighting a positive aspect to draw attention away from unsustainable practices, operations, or products. Example: A fashion company heavily promotes its “sustainable” packaging while overlooking the fact that the majority of its clothing is produced using environmentally harmful processes.
🔸 Greenlabeling: Marketing something as sustainable, but closer examination reveals the claim is misleading. Example: A fashion line advertises its products as "100% organic," but investigations reveal that only a small percentage of the used materials meet organic standards.
🔸 Greenrinsing: Regularly changing environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets before they are met. Example: A fashion brand consistently sets ambitious sustainability goals but frequently revises them without achieving the initial targets, creating an illusion of progress without substantial improvement.
🔸 Greenhushing: Under-reporting or hiding sustainability credentials to evade scrutiny from investors. Example: A fashion company does not follow consistent climate reporting, strategically omitting or downplaying its environmental impact to sidestep accountability and scrutiny from investors.
A framework to find greenwashing pitfalls
It’s not a new concept but one that helps identify greenwashing traps: The “Six Sins of Greenwashing” were developed by TerraChoice (now part of UL Environment) to identify common patterns of deceptive environmental marketing. While it was intended to help consumers and other stakeholders recognize greenwashing tactics, brands can benefit from the framework as well.3
Whenever you want to check your content for greenwashing traps, start by going through these six aspects. They all touch on aspects that will be regulated under the EU Green Claims Directive a.o.
(We will tell you how they are connected in more detail next week.)
1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off:
Greenwashing occurs when a product boasts one environmental benefit but ignores significant environmental impacts in other areas.
Example: Imagine a clothing brand promoting its use of organic cotton but failing to address other significant environmental issues in its supply chain, such as water pollution, excessive energy consumption or health hazards for workers.
2. Sin of No Proof:
Making environmental claims without providing verifiable evidence like credible data or certifications.
Example: A brand claims its products are "climate neutral" without providing any verifiable evidence or third-party certifications to support these claims.
3. Sin of Vagueness:
It’s greenwashing when marketing language is overly vague and lacks specificity. Phrases hinting at being “better” without clear definitions or context are misleading consumers. This can include terms like "eco-friendly", "natural" and others.
Example: A brand uses terms or phrases like "better for nature” or "better for the planet" without clearly defining or explaining the specific environmental benefits or criteria behind their claims.
4. Sin of Irrelevance:
This might be one most people don’t detect. It describes claims that can sound nice and be true but have little or no environmental relevance. The aspect used as a key selling point can distract consumers from more critical sustainability concerns.
Example: A fashion retailer advertises a product as being free from a particular harmful substance that is already banned or restricted by law, making the claim irrelevant and misleading.
5. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils:
It occurs when a company presents its product as the "lesser evil" without genuinely addressing the larger environmental impact of the product category. This tactic can create a false sense of environmental responsibility.
Example: A fast fashion brand claims that its products are environmentally friendly because they are made of recycled materials. However, it doesn’t address the overall negative impact of its production practices and business model, such as overconsumption and short product lifecycles.
6. Sin of Fibbing:
The most straightforward form of greenwashing involves making false claims about a product's environmental benefits. It can include false certifications, inaccurate statistics, or outright lies about a product's sustainability.
Example: A company uses misleading or deceptive eco-friendly labels on its clothing, giving the impression that the product has been certified by a reputable environmental organization when it hasn't.
Next week, we will put the “Six Sins of Greenwashing” into the context of the upcoming EU Green Claims Directive. So when you’re developing content ideas, communication campaigns, or checking existing communication for greenwashing pitfalls, you’ve got a helpful framework in mind.
Best,
Tanita & Lavinia
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Disclaimer: The content and opinions presented in The Crisps newsletter are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal, ethical, or professional advice. The Crisps does not endorse any specific brands or products mentioned in its content.
Euronews (2023). MEPs adopt new law banning greenwashing and misleading product information. Retrieved from https://www.euronews.com/2024/01/17/meps-adopt-new-law-banning-greenwashing-and-misleading-product-information
de Freitas Netto, S. V., Sobral, M. F. F., Ribeiro, A. R. B., & Soares, G. R. D. L. (2020). Concepts and forms of greenwashing: A systematic review. Environmental Sciences Europe, 32(1), 1-12.
Blesserholt, J. (2021). The'sins' of greenwashing: A content analysis of greenwashing's role in the fast fashion industry.