Greenwashing

In 1986 environmentalist Jay Westervelt coined the term “greenwashing” to describe the phenomenon of companies misleading customers to believe that they are more environmentally conscious than they actually are. Many clothing companies recognize that consumers want to shop sustainably and will “greenwash” for the financial benefits.

The clothing company H&M has been criticized for greenwashing. They released a line of clothing called “Conscious” which they marketed as “sustainable” and “environmentally friendly” but the Norwegian Customer Authority criticized the brand for not providing sufficient information on how their processes were sustainable. Also, because of H&M’s current marketing strategy focusing on their sustainable lines within advertising they hope that many consumers will consider them to be a sustainable brand even though a majority of the clothing they sell is fast fashion. H&M has become more transparent about their practices in recent years, but still a majority of their information is plans for the future that are not currently being executed.

Zara has also been criticized for “greenwashing”. They are another fast fashion brand who created a “sustainable” line of clothing. This clothing line was called, “Join Life”. The site Eco-Stylist found that Zara was not transparent enough about exactly how the line was sustainable. Zara does have many plans for reducing their environmental impacts from reducing their water pollution to their carbon emissions. Hopefully they will meet those goals, but similar to H&M they have not reached that point yet.

It can be tempting to “add to cart” right when you see muted tones in advertising and words such as “sustainable” or “eco-friendly”. However, it is helpful to do a bit more research to see if the companies you are shopping from are greenwashing or not (you can check out my article on how to tell the sustainability of clothing brands: here).

There are a few signs to look for that specifically signal “greenwashing”. First, companies are often “greenwashing” if the only sustainability they advertise on their website is their plans for the future. They do not necessarily need to follow through with these plans and could be using them to appear more sustainable than they currently are. Also, companies who “greenwash” often only have one sustainable line and the rest of their clothing is fast fashion. Another warning sign is the company not being transparent with their production practices. Additionally, if a company uses eco-friendly packaging but the products inside the packaging are not sustainable then it is likely that their sustainable-goals are mostly for show. It can be helpful to check and see if the company has any certifications confirming it’s sustainability. Natural resources sometimes are not necessarily sustainable, so it can also help to check the Higg Materials Sustainability Index to examine whether the clothing textiles are as sustainable as companies advertise.

Overall, with the populations increasing demand for natural and sustainable clothing some companies are and will continue to pretend to be more sustainable than they truly are. However, there are ways to avoid falling for their advertisements.

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