Greenwashing: Is it Really that Bad?

Let me start by saying I find it incredibly frustrating when businesses and brands make exaggerated claims about environmental and social change. As a design business that has for the past 15 years been helping hospitality and retail clients integrate meaningful environmental strategies, greenwashing and shortcuts are just irritating.

Advertising is not a credible source of information

But greenwashing also has another name; marketing or advertising. In his book 'Let My People Go Surfing', Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia), makes the point that advertising rates as ‘dead last’ in terms of being a credible source of information. If you think about it, advertising is about promoting what you want the customer to hear and turning down the volume on anything you want to hide. This is not underhand, it's simply the purpose of advertising. So, is greenwashing the issue, or is it our dependence on marketing and advertising in the decisions we make?

Our role as designers is to look below the surface

In my experience as a designer, investigating products and services beyond the surface often shows deficiencies in claims about functionality, performance or quality. We should never let advertising influence the decisions we make and as designers, our role is to look way beyond the surface by analysing the technical data and using the products and services first-hand. Sampling, prototyping, using and repeating processes until it is perfect.

The impact of exaggerated marketing is felt by everyone, not just those who work in sustainability. Take an artisan maker, such as those we are surrounded by in Devon. They've decades of experience, crafting the same products on repeat, and truly understand the processes and materials they use. Refining, tweaking and enhancing products to the highest of quality. Yet they compete with mass-produced items that will make claims about their artisan makers and sell at a fraction of the price. The products might look similar but they are not the same, and you'll only find that out if you want to know.

Greenwashing – a positive sign that the market is shifting

As someone who has been banging the sustainability drum for many years, it occasionally felt like pushing water uphill. So, I have mixed feelings about greenwashing. On the one hand, attempts to sell disingenuous information is appalling, but it is also representative of a shift in the market. 10 years ago, sustainability was a hard sell. Today, it is on everyone’s agenda. Greenwashing is a byproduct of a market heading in the right direction.

In summary, rather than solely focusing on greenwashing, we should be more discerning about marketing and advertising as a whole. We need to cultivate curiosity, scepticism, and a willingness to look beyond surface-level claims, recognising marketing for what it is - a sales pitch - rather than a source of detailed technical information.