The growth of greenwash

You can’t always tell if a company is showing its true colours when it comes to eco issues, explains Ethical Consumer’s Dan Welch

'Greenwash' – environmental whitewash – is what organisations do when they try to make themselves look greener than they really are. Around since the early nineties, the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as: ‘Disinformation disseminated by an organisation to present an environmentally responsible public image.’

With companies under greater pressure than ever to be good corporate citizens, it’s perhaps unsurprising that some are using “eco-spin” over substance. Thankfully, companies peddling greenwash are also under scrutiny as never before, as advertising watchdogs in the UK and US are cracking down on bogus environmental claims.

Former Labour minister Chris Smith, chairman of the UK's advertising watchdog Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has committed the body to a "more proactive” approach to companies jumping on the green bandwagon. According to the ASA, there has been a significant increase in complaints about greenwashing.

Between May and December 2007 the ASA received 364 complaints against green claims in 278 adverts - in the same period in 2006 there were less than 100 complaints against just 62 ads.

Greenwash boils down to two strategies: red herrings and rose-tinted spectacles. Greenwashers either highlight a claim that is misleading in the wider environmental context or tell us a feel-good story to cover up something.

Red herrings

When it comes to red herrings there are some real ‘no brainers’. For instance, Johnsons pet care Anti-Tangle Aerosol is marketed is ‘CFC free’ when ozone-destroying CFCs are actually banned.

But there are also far subtler red herrings. “Carbon offsetting” has faced steadily growing criticism and recently the ASA ruled that British Gas couldn’t call one of its tariffs, which 'offsets' emissions “Zero Carbon”. They ruled this, stating that gas “would always produce carbon emissions when used”.

Critics see carbon offsetting as providing a ‘get out of jail free card’ to industries on the front line of climate change, such as energy, aviation and car companies. For example, Land Rover champions its commitment to “Our Planet” and offers to offset the first 45,000 miles of new buyer's carbon emissions. But it also produces some of the most gas guzzling cars on our roads.

The CarbonNeutral Company, an offset provider, ran a press release on its website that read "Silverjet Awarded Carbon Neutral Airline of the Year Award 2007”. With aviation emissions increasingly in the spotlight, had Silverjet found the holy grail of climate-friendly travel? Only if zero carbon travel amounts to paying an offset company 90p per hour, on a business-class only flight – with chauffeur driven airport service included.

Sue Welland, founder of the CarbonNeutral Company, was asked whether awarding an airline carbon neutral status was greenwash. “Silverjet is not carbon neutral,” she replied, “It is making all flights carbon neutral” – a complex distinction not readily apparent to consumers. The press release disappeared from the website shortly after the issue was raised.

A recent Oxford University study highlighted how ‘frequent fliers’, such as Silverjet’s target market, were disproportionately responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. The 20 per cent of individuals with the worst carbon footprints were responsible for 80 times the emissions of the 20 per cent with the lowest.

In “The Carbon Neutral Myth” Kevin Smith compares carbon offsets with the medieval practice of selling ’indulgences’ for the remission of sins. In this way greenwash serves not only companies, but consumers too.

A recent advert for the Lexus RX400h SUV ran with the byline “High performance. Low emissions. Zero Guilt.” According to the ASA, “’Zero Guilt’ implied the car was environmentally friendly, [and] we concluded that the headline claim was likely to mislead”.

Rose-tinted spectacles

“Discover the inspiring stories behind our press campaigns” invites Shell's 'Real Energy' website. One you won't find is the “Don't throw anything away. There is no away” ad, censured by ASA following a complaint from environmental lobby group Friends of the Earth.

The central image of refinery chimneys emitting flowers was not misleading, according to the ASA, offering advertisers generous poetic license. But the claim "We use our waste CO2 to grow flowers" was. While true of one project, it conveniently ignored other details of Shell’s environmental record – such as massive gas flaring in Nigeria. According to the World Bank, gas flaring in Nigeria has produced more greenhouse gas emissions than all other sources in sub-Saharan Africa combined.

Consumers are not known for their allegiance to a brand of petrol, so you might ask why Shell bothers to advertise at all. The real purpose is ‘branding’ – to associate the brand with a set of images and ideas in the consumer’s mind.

If you remember BP’s ‘Beyond petroleum’ ad campaign and their ‘Good life’ logo, then it worked. A recent survey found that UK consumers saw BP as the second best brand in the UK at rising to the challenge of climate change. That’s the same company that Greenpeace recently accused of participating in the 'greatest climate crime in history’.

Green marketing or the greenwash blues

Campaign groups are having increasing success at shooting down corporate greenwash and regulators are more active. But the danger is a generalised consumer cynicism in which genuine claims are rejected along with the bogus.

A recent survey found that just 3 per cent of consumers think businesses are honest about their green credentials, with a third believing they actively exaggerate their green activities. On the positive side, with green claims subject to scrutiny as never before, companies will have to put their money where their mouth is.

Marketing and advertising has sold us the consumer lifestyle - perhaps it’s time for it to sell us the sustainable lifestyle. As marketing guru John Grant, author of “The Green Marketing Manifesto” puts it, ‘it’s not about making normal stuff seem green, it’s about making green stuff seem normal’.