There are so many positives to upskilling staff and building the in-house knowledge needed to get sustainability embedded in business and design decisions so that companies can ethically and appropriately benefit from the growing market demands for socially-beneficial and environmentally-responsible products ! down true progress .
SUSTAINABILITY
Green Mirage : Decoding The Illusion Of Sustainability In Marketing
By Kevin Mofokeng
When it comes to sustainability , what role does marketing play ? On the one hand , there ’ s a huge opportunity to influence citizens by promoting products and services that impact the world in positive ways . But just like any for-cause effort , there can be a darker side , one in which the original intention is exploited for personal , or , often the case here , for corporate gain .
In sustainability , misleading consumers to buy products that appear good for the planet ( when they actually are not ) is called greenwashing . It ’ s when companies spend more money and time promoting green credentials than actually creating a solution or doing the research and work to ensure that there is a reduction in environmental impact . This term has been around since the 80s and has more recently spurred many other takes on corporate “ washing ”, such as SDG-washing , woke-washing and socialwashing .
Greenwashing is inherently about false advertising , misleading consumers by using language , labels and imagery that evokes a perception of sustainability or ‘ greenness ’ when in fact , the product is no different from its competitors - and in some cases , it can be even worse , all whilst pretending to be green by using language , branding and colours to convey a perception of eco-cred and sustainability . By playing on people ’ s desires for better environmentallyperforming products , greenwashing dupes people into buying things , which can lead to a lack of trust towards genuine claims of sustainability , once the false claims have been found out .
Cambridge Dictionary explains that greenwashing is designed “ to make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is .” A good analogy then is that greenwashing is to corporations as tree hugging is to individuals who say they care about the environment ; it ’ s an outdated symbolic reference that has few actual benefits and often does more damage than good , drawing on antiquated frames of reference whilst promoting ideas and myths that slow
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There are so many positives to upskilling staff and building the in-house knowledge needed to get sustainability embedded in business and design decisions so that companies can ethically and appropriately benefit from the growing market demands for socially-beneficial and environmentally-responsible products ! down true progress .
Sustainability is in part about learning from the mistakes of the past and redesigning the way we deliver value into the economy in ways that don ’ t create negative externalities to the planet and people . It ’ s about doing the work to get better social , economic and environmentally performing results by changing the products , services , business models , experiences and yes , communication approaches so that we can meet our human needs in ways that don ’ t negatively affect the ability for us all to live prosperously on this incredible planet .
So , greenwashing really makes a mess of the genuine attempts to do this , as it detracts , misdirects , confuses and often takes up air time from the companies and communities who are really doing a great job at progressing down the sustainability path .
So , here ’ s the really ironic part in this ; greenwashing doesn ’ t always begin with an evil intent . Sustainability is still so misunderstood that companies can accidentally greenwash when they assume they have a product that is environmentally preferable . But because they haven ' t done any of the important technical investigations to ensure that the product does indeed have environmental benefits , or they have done basic googling and assumed something is good because it ’ s made from a “ biodegradable ” or recyclable material for example , then they make unfounded claims and only figure out where they went wrong after they get caught out . When claims are made without any real data or research to validate it , then it ’ s up to watchdogs and the wider public to do the work to uncover
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