How to Avoid Greenwashing

Green is in.  Most companies, from small local businesses to multinational giants, know that an increasing number of customers are concerned with how they interact with the environment and with people around the world.  The result has been a barrage of green claims on corporate websites, press releases, and corporate reports.

Not all green claims are valid, but many of the invalid green claims are not intentionally deceptive.  Companies try so hard to appear green, they will inadvertently claim they are being environmentally responsible in situations where they really shouldn’t.

Here are a few examples of invalid green claims:

• Following the law. If your company reduces its pollution to the amount required by law, you can’t claim your compliance as a green initiative.  Even if your competitors are getting away with non-compliance because they haven’t been caught, being less bad isn’t the same as being good.  However, if you maintain a higher standard in one area because it’s the law in another area, that’s a valid claim.
  For example, if the law says you have to use ultra-low-sulfur diesel in your on-road fleet, and you decide to use the same quality fuel in your off-road equipment, where you don’t have to, you can claim environmental responsibility for exceeding the standard in your off-road equipment.
• When it’s really the other green. If you initiate a project to save money, and there is an incidental environmental benefit, you can claim that benefit only if you also state the economic benefit in your promotional materials.
  For example, many hotels tell you that they are being green by only washing the towels you put in the tub, and not the ones you hang on the rack.  What they usually don’t tell you about is the thousands of dollars they save in reduced laundry costs.  It is true that the reduced energy from doing laundry benefits the environment, but not telling you that it saves them money is deceptive, making this practice a very literal example of greenwashing.
• When green here causes brown there. It’s too easy to focus on one way of being green and neglect other areas.  But it’s important to determine the full life cycle cost of your environmental or social improvement because of the complex interconnections between different environmental issues.
  For example, there is a company in Florida that sells water in bottles made of polylactic acid (PLA), a type of bioplastic.  The bottles are fully biodegradable, so from a waste perspective, they appear to be a responsible product.  But the main feedstock for PLA in the United States is corn, and in other parts of the world it’s sugar cane, so producing more PLA will compete with food crops, raising the price of food, and encouraging slash-and-burn agriculture to grow more.  Furthermore, these single-serving bottles are square, making them inconvenient to take on-the-go, which is the only reasonable place to use a single-serving bottle.
• Claim jumping. You can’t claim someone else’s environmental benefit as your own, even if it results in better environmental performance for your company.
  For example, if your electrical utility shuts down a coal power plant because it has filled the demand using green power, your company’s indirect carbon emissions will be reduced as a result.  This reduction belongs in your annual report, but with an explanation that it results entirely from the electrical utility’s actions.  And you certainly shouldn’t send out a press release saying that your company reduced your carbon emissions by that amount.

To put a positive spin on this article, here are some dos to go along with the above don’ts:

• Do follow the law, but more importantly, anticipate future legal requirements.  If your company complies with environmental regulations before they come into force, you will have a competitive advantage.  If you go one step further, and shape your environmental policies to comply with laws that may be passed in the future, you will be in the powerful position of helping shape future laws.  After all, if the government sees that you can be that green, and still be competitive, they’ll see it as reasonable that other companies can too.  And when they’re forced to do what you’ve already done, they’ll come to you for advice.
• Do introduce energy efficiency programs that have both an economic and an ecological benefit.  But make sure you state both benefits when you publicize your results.
• Do examine the full life cycle costs of your green programs, and choose initiatives that have the largest net positive benefit.  If you realize that one project isn’t as beneficial as you thought, it might give you ideas for a project you wouldn’t have thought of if you hadn’t explored the first one.
• Do acknowledge the environmental successes of your partners – and if the benefit is great enough, offer to participate in their projects.  Often they will achieve a greater benefit than they would without your help, which will increase your indirect environmental benefit.

By following the steps above, you can turn a potential greenwash into a greater environmental success story.