Feature
DEMYSTIFYING
GREENWASHING:
WE TAKE YOU THROUGH
THE ISSUE
Note From The Editor: This article was originally
published in our July 2016 issue. As our magazine
has grown tremendously, we wanted to reshare
a few of the great pieces that have gotten lost in
our backlog. We’ve made a few updates to ensure
the information is still up-to-date, but for the most
part, everything was as relevant then as it is now
Whether you’re trying to minimize your
environmental impact while using personal care
or just trying to avoid some chemical ingredients,
it can be complicated to figure out the many
products available. Many of us turn to packaging
to figure out if a product is right for us, but
ingredient lists can be confusing. What if that
packaging isn’t entirely accurate? This month as
part of our feature on green beauty, we wanted
to take an in-depth look at Greenwashing, a
trend that makes picking out products even more
difficult.
Greenwashing Defined
What exactly is greenwashing? According to
the Greenwashing Index, it’s, “when a company
or organization spends more time and money
claiming to be ‘green’ through advertising and
marketing than actually implementing business
practices that minimize environmental impact.”
We wanted to get a better idea of what this
means from a variety of sides in the beauty
industry. We chatted with several beauty store
employees to see the customer’s perspective,
Faith Frankenfeild, developer of a natural line,
and Karoline Wells, a cosmetic chemist.
“Most customers don’t even know where to start,”
explained Jessica Shaffer, an employee at a
beauty supply in Albany, NY. “They don’t have
time to research all the ingredients, and often
it’s the price that wins.” She noted that many of
her customers were interested in finding more
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M A G A Z I N E
natural options but price, efficacy, and ingredient
confusion were all major concerns. When we
asked if her clients considered greenwashing, she
explained that it was often a concern but many
didn’t know how to tell what was what. No one
wants to feel like they’ve been had by marketing,
and that’s the main goal of greenwashing — to
play into consumers’ willingness to pay a little
more for a more earth-friendly products.
Aside from confusing consumers, what harm does
greenwashing do? The first thing to consider is
the damage to the earth–as you would expect, it
can hurt the environment since consumers who
are trying to use better products use ones that
are not. It also can hurt the reputation of the very
companies who participate in it. When revealed
as greenwashing, a company’s image suffers and
in some cases, it can lead to lawsuits.