Mukt Shabd Journal ISSN NO : 2347-3150

Green Washing: An Alarming Issue

J. S. Bhagavathi,
M.phil Scholar,
Department of Commerce,
University of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram.

Abstract

The protection of environment has become a popular topic in the recent past. The word Green has also
been very commonly used in various disciplines like marketing, products, banking etc. in order to
show the responsibility of the organisation towards a sustainable environment. When responsibility
comes into place, it has been made mandatory that all the companies registered under the companies
act has to compulsorily spend 2% of its overall net profits towards Corporate Social Responsibility
activities. The companies are trying to find out various methods through which they will be able to do
creative CSR practices. Keeping both these in mind, the companies are trying to find out how to link
green and environment protection with Corporate Social Responsibility. Green marketing is the act of
marketing of products that assumes to be environmentally safe and less harmful. On the other hand
Green Washing can be defined as the act of misleading consumers about the environmental practices
of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. In other words Green Washing is
the act of companies who promise to be environmentally responsible but in real sense are not. This
has become a serious issue since many consumers are not aware of the fact and willing to pay huge
amount of money to purchase such products. Thus the research paper focuses on the most emerging
issues of green washing, the various types of green washing, the major reasons for the growth in green
washing trends & signs and sins of green washing which acts as a major information to the consumers
who are willing to pay higher amount of money for the purchase of these goods. The major aim of this
paper tries to bring out the ultimate sum and substance of the ill effects of Green Washing.

Keywords:Corporate Social Responsibility, Green Washing, Environmental practices

Introduction

Marketing is defined as the aggregate of all the methods and ways which are designed to facilitate any
exchanges which helps to satisfy human needs or wants. Green marketing as the name indicates is the
marketing of products that are believed to be environmentally safe. It includes a wide range of
activities which includes modifications to the product, the production process, marketing, packaging
and advertising. It is also calledas Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing (AMA). The
Green marketing movement had faced many setbacks because many organizations advertised
misleading claims about their products and services. Without a proper governmental environment
labelling standards the consumers felt it difficult to differentiate among those products and services
which were truly beneficial. Consumers are always willing to pay extra money for misrepresented &
false products. Consumer awareness thus plays a major role in this case. Green Washing refers to
those situations in which the organizations misrepresent themselves as environmentally safe &
responsible. The labelling like natural & green claims by companies if misleading may seriously
injure their brands and their sales. Thus, in short presenting a product or service by advocating green,
natural, environmentally safe and in reality if these are misleading then this phenomenon is referred to

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as green washing. The researcher in this paper tries to find out the various methods through which
products can be green washed and how far the consumers are aware about it.

Objectives of the study

 To examine the various methods through which green washing can be exhibited
 To trace a history of companies that were engaged in Green Washing

Sins of Green Washing

Green washing is the process of claiming that a company has been sustainable and the products
produced are green while, they are not as such in reality. These can definitely mislead the customers
and therefore it may persuade them to buy them at any given price. There are mainly seven sins of
green washing,

1) Sin of Hidden Trade off

This sin literally talks about a product to be green as such covering all the other features of
the products which may not be environmental friendly. For example,
There are very many cosmetics like shampoos and face washes which claim to be 100%
organic. From websites and other sources it has also been understood that for these formulas
to work, there has to some sort of mixing of chemical ingredients. The composition of these
have not been printed in many of the packages.
2) Sin of No proof
For any of the contents of the products to be believable, it is important that there has to be a
sign of proof. There are many third party agencies which certify the products. It is seen that
many of the products have made several claims to be environmentally responsible but as such
these products do not have any certification to prove that claim. For example in 2015, there
was a case against the Huggies Diaper pants who claim to be 100% pure and natural. The case
was filed in New York stating that though they claim to be environmentally safe and sound,
they contain some chemicals which harm the skin of babies.
3) Sin of Vagueness
Vagueness refers to unclear statements. These statements either do not provide a meaning on
its own or it is broadly defined as such that, the word itself can have different meanings. For
example, the term, “All- Natural”. By looking at this term, different inceptions can be made,
on how far it is natural or is it 100% natural etc.
4) Sin of wrong label worshiping
This is an extension of the sin of no proof. Sometimes there might be a proof in the label
which states about the quality of the product, but in reality it has to be examined whether
there exists a third party or not. For example a misleading label was given by General Motors
which stated that “gas friendly to gas free”. This tried to proclaim that General Motors was
ecofriendly.
5) Sin of Irrelevance
Some information provided are said to be irrelevant. This happens when the company
provides some true facts regarding the product but it is not needed for the customers who are
really looking for environmental friendly products. For example there are many products
which comes with a label claiming to be have no CFCs. In reality almost all the products are
CFC free, and there is no need to provide such a labeling.

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6) Sin of the lesser of the two evils

This is a sin in disguise. A company might tend to provide a fruitful information in order to
hide a larger sin. The customers are forced to believe what happens now.In the backdrop there
is a larger sin which is happening. It is a known fact that cigarettes are injurious to health.
Then there is no point in saying anything about organic cigarettes.
7) Sin of Fibbing
The sin of Fibbing is a straightaway form of green washing method through which the
companies directly make false claims. They say it is ecofriendly but by seeing the product
itself it can be understood that the product is not ecofriendly. For example in Canada the Fur
council claimed that all its products were environmental friendly. But in actual sense they kill
the animals in order to obtain Fur.

The companies in various countries have been regularly trying to maintain a green image in the
disguise of actually not doing the same. Some of the most trusted and credential companies have done
this. The companies which created a pitfall in this regard has been analyzed.

1) Coco Cola
Coco Cola was regarded as one of the most famous one of the most sustainable soft drinks
company in the world. They have been the sponsors of the Climate change conference. They
have envisioned themselves as working for the environment together with trying to achieve a
carbon free footprint. But it was found without any confusion that, they were not as
environmental friendly as displayed. They built their factories by encroaching the areas of
poor farmers. These lands with abundant water was pumped for use by these corporates.
Apart from that, the company also had owned a drinking water manufacturing plant, Dasani.
In a foreign country, it was proved that the manufacturing plant of Dasani was situated in the
most dreadful parts of drought affected areas. These were also carried out when the drought
was affected very drastically in the area.
2) Volkswagen
Being one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, Volkswagen was caught in a
big scandal. The claim that the company provided was that, their product does not emit
enormous amount of smoke from their vehicles. Various tests regarding the same was also
conducted. But it was proved that, it was not the same in reality. The company had
technology that cheated the tests. At the time of tests, it would be shown that the pollution
will be less. But after the test, it will all be normal. And there will be no reduction in the
emission of smoke. To save more fuel, more amount of smoke is to be released. Thus their
claim was caught. After that incident, though many offers and discounts were provided by the
company, there was no hike in the sales of the company. And their advertisement later was
“We are sorry that we are caught”
3) Revlon
Another famous case which was caught was that of Revlon. The Revlon made its very so
called effective campaign in 2013. The company by selling its products, campaigned about its
fund raising for helping to raise fund for Breast Cancer patients. But at a later stage, the
company was accused because the cosmetics it produced was made up of chemicals that lead
to cancer. The company then had to change the ingredients of the products and it later claimed
that the campaign started much before the removal of the chemical contents from the product.

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4) Asian Pulp and Paper organization

APP had decided to stop its deforestation activities. Before this action was taken, the
company had a long history of its deforestation activities including cutting down trees and
having long lasting disputes with the common people regarding the land etc. The Forest
Stewardship Council disassociated with the APP. Apart from this, it is note able that FSC has
only disassociated with very few companies.
5) Nestle (‘sustainably sourced cocoa beans’)
(Earth Day 2019, 2019)A 2019 class-action lawsuit against Nestle alleges the food giant’s
“sustainably sourced cocoa beans” are nothing of the sort. Not when production of the key
ingredient in the company’s chocolate products — including its Butterfinger and Baby Ruth
bars, Nesquik chocolate milk, Toll House chocolate chips and hot cocoa mix (seen above) —
is helping drive massive deforestation in West Africa. The suit also claims the cocoa comes
from farms that use child and slave labor.
6) Kauai Coffee (compostable coffee pods)
(Earth Day 2019, 2019)Kauai Coffee claimed its “100% compostable” coffee pods took the
guilt out of single serve.
“Now you can enjoy the great taste and convenience of single-serve coffee without worrying
about the environmental impact,” the Hawaiian roaster said on its website. “Our certified
100% compostable pod is compatible with all K-Cup brewers and is designed to go back to
the land — not the landfill.”
But there was a catch, or as NAD put it, a “significant limitation” to Kauai’s compostable
coffee pods that was not clearly disclosed to consumers. The caveat? The capsules have only
been certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), an environmental advocacy
group, to decompose at “industrial facilities” and not in the compost pile in your backyard.

Avoidance of Green washing claim

In the long term, green washing has a negative impact on the goodwill and value of the firm.
Therefore the companies must take adequate steps in order fall into the trap of misleading statements.
The following four ways can be used by the corporates

1) Specificity
The first and foremost thing that must be followed by the firm is that their advertisement must
be specific. Generally stated statements such as Eco friendly, green product, etc. can attract
legal action. Therefore the companies must be specific as to how much it is green, what
makes it green and compared to the earlier product, what specialty it has. This will help to
reduce vague and unclear statements.
2) Comprehensive
The statements given by the companies must be easily understood. It should not hide any of
the information. There must be clarity of language. Any footnotes provided for the product
must be easily understood.
3) Overstatement
Any claims over stated would bring in much problem to the reputation of the company. Thus
the companies should not over state its claims. While making statements both the relative and
absolute advantages of the product must be taken into consideration.

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4) Company clarity and substantiation

It’s illegal from the part of companies to make claims against competitors. Thus the
companies must take legal advises from their legal advisors before making any statements
against their competitors.

Addressing green washing

Green washing must be addressed because on side, there is no real use of claiming to be green by no
really being green. On the other side, the customers who spend much amount on such products are
being fooled. The companies must not make baseless statements because it may damage their
reputation in the long run. Ultimately the consumer confidence will get reduced.

Regulatory actions from the private sector can reduce consumer confusion and holding companies
accountable. Environmental watchdogs educate the consumers and therefore making it very difficult
for the corporates to mislead consumers without losing their goodwill. But these regulatory bodies
lack the uniformity and enforceability of government regulations. Third-party certification programs
supplement the situation because it lacksgovernment-issued standards.

Conclusion

In short, green is a word that is being used widely by the companies to promote themselves at the
same time, to increase their CSR rating. Like the term white washing, the term green washing has
been used in the corporate world in order to market their products as green but in reality this is not
happening. In other countries, there are regulatory bodies to stop the fraudulent impacts of green
washing. In India there is no such regulatory authority to watch the green washing practices. India
being one of the largest consumer countries in the world, it must be made mandatory by the
government to initiate such a regulatory authority.

For those corporates that wanted to impart environmental friendly policies and wanted to use their
green effect as a reputational asset, the major lesson that they have to remember is not only honest and
clear communication about environmental behaviour but also, giving awayhalf lies. By talking about
green activities it does not prove to be better than telling lies about the product. Only a true green
position can be beneficial to the environment as well as the company. Also, a firm’s reputation will
not benefit from its environmentally friendly attitudesby only taking credit for compliance with legal
obligations.

For corporations that try to inculcate consumers’ awareness about green washing, the lesson that must
be learned is that objective accounts of differences between the environmental walk and talk of
organizations, will not be sufficient to raise public awareness and outcry about such malpractices.
Claims against green washing should be preferable enough to address the organization’s intent. Only
when the consumer’s trust the organisation, there will be a benefit. When there is an attempt from the
part of the organization which deliberately lies about its environmental performance, it can the
discovered that green washingcreates a serious damage to the image of the corporation as well as the
product. Thus in the long if a firm is found to have green washed, then there will be loss of demand
and customer confidence.

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