Getting caught greenwashing can really ruin the relationship that customers have with a brand and set back genuine efforts to create sustainable products - so why not just seize the opportunity to embrace sustainability and do it right in your organization in the first place ?
terminology , concepts , approaches , and technical requirements of what a green product actually is , and what is not . The BBC offers a handy guide on how to spot corporate greenwashing , and this guide details the sins of greenwashing which was from work done over a decade ago but still applies today .
Sustainability in business is about addressing the impact of your actions from a holistic perspective , not just reducing operational impacts , or swapping out one or two products . It ’ s about looking at the entire system you participate in , along with all the impacts and actions you take , and ensuring that at every stage be it operational , products or experiences , there are efforts to continually improve towards being not only sustainable but also regenerative , giving back more than you take .
From a technical sustainability standpoint , all claims made about environmental performance should be backed up by clear and transparent data that ensure that the product is actually performing well across the entire product , not just in one indicator area ( such as climate change ).
Conducting high-level scientific assessments such as life cycle assessments , performing supply chain audits , developing circular business models and ensuring that environmental management systems
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Getting caught greenwashing can really ruin the relationship that customers have with a brand and set back genuine efforts to create sustainable products - so why not just seize the opportunity to embrace sustainability and do it right in your organization in the first place ?
are in place throughout the business , all offer opportunities to level up the type of products in the market .
As a general rule , if you can ' t measure it , you can ’ t claim it . So be sure that products you are creating and promoting don ' t fall into this trap and that the things you are
buying have been explored for the actual benefit , rather than the labeled one .
To get to a genuinely sustainable future , we need full systems redesign , and that requires companies investing in the R & D needed to assess their current issues and then hiring the right people to design the solutions that create measurably-beneficial sustainable and circular products and businesses . Tools such as sustainable design and life cycle thinking are very useful in assessing and designing better-performing products . Circular economy business strategies also work towards long-term solutions , rather than short-term fixes .
Consumers will continue to demand greener products , which means there will be companies that will continue to greenwash . But they will always get caught , and the cost of cleaning up after the mess is often way greater than the upfront cost of doing the work to get the product right in the first place .
Botswana based Kevin Mofokeng is the founding director of KM Wealth Group , a freelance Digital PR Strategist and a Columnist at The Bulrushes . He focuses his writings on developmental issues affecting Africa . You can commune with him via email at : Kevmofokeng @ gmail . com .
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