What is greenwashing?

So, what is greenwashing?

Greenwashing is a term that has only recently started to be used. It describes an act by a company or person that’s seen to be pretending to be environmentally friendly than it really is. For example, a company might describe their product as “eco-friendly and green” to get good publicity, but they may not have actually made any changes to it. Some unscrupulous companies may even lie completely about the environmental benefits of their products, or hide bad aspects to focus on the good side of what they’re doing.

Greenwashing is a complicated issue

Things aren’t simple when it comes to greenwashing. The term gets used a lot but it’s not always a clear-cut issue. For example, if a company sells a product that is good for the environment, but better alternatives exist, is this greenwashing? Hybrid vehicles are better for the environment than exclusively petrol or diesel ones; but fully electric vehicles are arguably better still. Does this mean companies shouldn’t market hybrid vehicles as green because there is a more eco-friendly alternative?

It’s even more complicated when you think about the difficulty in even assessing the environmental claims. There are lots of different measures that can be used.

Ultimately, environmentally friendly actions come down to your choices and there are very few products that are perfectly eco-friendly – there are always tradeoffs.

Watch this 12-minute video from the BBC to find out:

• • What is greenwashing?
  • How do we evaluate products which claim to be eco-friendly?
  • Which common terms are used on products to describe their green credentials?

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