As the effects of climate change, plastic pollution, and environmental destruction become more prevalent throughout the world, many people are starting to make sustainable living a part of their lives. With 77% of people interested in learning more about sustainable lifestyles (Forbes), the push for brands to improve their social and environmental consciousness has also been growing. While eco-friendly brands and alternatives are popping up left & right, so too is the prevalence of Greenwashing.

What is Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is a marketing tactic used by organizations to falsely promote their image of environmental responsibility, often involving inaccurate claims about material & ingredient composition, social & ethical manufacturing, environmental impact, and end-of-life disposal.

While a product may seem to be eco-friendly and sustainably made, a deeper look into the ingredients, company, and manufacturing are able to prove those claims false. Even notoriously unethical companies use greenwashing to change their public image, encouraging more unassuming people to support them. Not only does this kind of marketing negatively impact the environment, it dilutes the meaning of sustainability and actively harms the work of organizations and small businesses trying to do good, especially surrounding Earth Day and Earth Month.

So with all these bad actors popping up in grocery stores, pharmacies, and online, how can you know who’s telling the truth and who’s stretching it? We’ve compiled a list of some key components to help spot the good from the greenwashed.

Know the Red Flags

Buzzwords & Imagery

One of the biggest red flags for greenwashing is the sheer amount of buzzwords and imagery used for packaging, marketing, and beyond. Words like “all-natural”, “bio-based”, “100% recyclable”, or “eco-friendly” are often used alongside green-colored packaging with leaf or flower illustrations in order to imply that these products are somehow good for the environment. Terms like “All-Natural” or “100%” are usually intended to be misleading, since there’s no regulation around these seemingly definite terms, and almost no way to back up the claims. Packaging can even include fake icons that look like certification logos to falsely legitimize their claims (more on that shortly). These companies try to hide their own contributions to environmental destruction with flowery vocabulary (literally and figuratively), making it hard for consumers to actually buy sustainable products.

Commercials are equally guilty of these tactics, using slow-moving videos to evoke emotional reactions from the viewers without saying anything of substance. These videos are often of rolling ocean tides, spinning wind turbines, cute & endangered animals, and (our personal favorite) hands in soil holding a plant. Accompanied by statements like “we care”, “we’re in this together”, and “for the future”, companies can convey the idea that they’re helping the planet, while actually making no claims and certainly making no actions to do so.

Target recently launched a collection called Target Zero, containing “products & packaging solutions designed to be refillable, reusable or compostable…that replace single-use items and reduce waste in your life” (Target). This line contains items like “plant-based” single-use disposable wipes, shampoo & conditioner “refills” in plastic bottles, disposable plastic toothbrushes, and redesigned packaging with “less plastic”. Of the 578 products listed in the collection, we counted 528 that contain visible plastic packaging. Target was also named the 3rd highest maritime polluter in the world in 2019, producing “more CO2 than the entire CO2 output of all 20 of the world’s smallest countries most vulnerable to climate change” (Stand.earth & Pacific Environment).

Third-Party Certifications

Large corporations can use all the buzzwords they want, but that doesn’t mean that they’re making any efforts besides false marketing. The best way to prove the claims made is to back them up with a 3rd-party certification. Fair-Trade, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Leaping Bunny, and 1% for the Planet all require their certifications to be conducted by a third-party, and for good reason. Independent not-for-profits often run these certifications, allowing the applications, inspections, and audits to be carried out and verified without interference from either party, ensuring the certification’s integrity. Depending on the certification, yearly reviews or surprise audits are used to ensure that everything remains up to standard.

The skincare brand Aveeno has tried to rebrand themselves as a “natural” beauty company, naming lines “Active Naturals” and switching their packaging to include earth-tones like beige and green. These “natural” ingredients include oats along with 20+ different chemical components, some of which are used in plastic production and have links to severe health conditions. The company also claims to practice “ethical farming & sourcing” and “doesn't conduct animal testing of our cosmetic products anywhere in the world, except in the rare situation where governments or laws require it” (Aveeno). Neither of these claims are backed by third party-certifications of any kind, and they even admit themselves to test on animals so that their products can be sold in China, where animal testing is required by law.

While certifications are important, many brands try to fake certifications with made-up designs or inadequate reference to the certification. If the product claims to be “cruelty-free”, an icon of a bunny on the packaging or the words “no animal-testing” isn’t enough to verify their claim. This article from Ethical Elephant does a great job showing red flags to look out for in false cruelty-free labeling, as well as providing a deep dive into different certification brands. Similarly, many brands claim their products are “organic” without providing any certification. For textiles with GOTS Certification, the logo must include the third-party body and the license number, which will be confirmed on the GOTS Public Database to ensure legitimacy (any logo without the licensing number is invalid). With food products, the word “Organic” can only be used if the USDA certified it as such, and therefore meets a rigorous set of values. Unfortunately, this restriction on the word only applies to food and textiles, leaving no regulations in place for the use of “Organic” on cosmetics, personal care, or cleaning products.

Here’s our own GOTS Certification conducted by Oregon Tilth. But don’t just take our word for it! You can find our certification info here on the GOTS Public Database, along with the material compositions of all the Organic Cotton used in our products.

Lack of Transparency

When shopping for food, beauty products, clothing, or anything else, companies are often given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to environmental impact, labor sources, and animal testing. Especially if it’s from a brand you love, the first thought is “I’m sure THEY aren’t part of the problem”. The issue with this way of thinking is that brands are trusted without earning that trust. Now-a-days, it’s profitable to truthfully market products as ethically-sourced and cruelty-free when backed up with the proper certification. So if a multi-million dollar corporation has “nothing to hide”, why not prove it? (It’s probably because they can’t.)

To tell if a company is as sustainable as they claim, check their website. Almost every company now has a “Sustainability” or “Responsibility” page about how much they value the planet, but few actually provide concrete details of how they’re helping or the changes they’re implementing. Big promises for 30 years down the road do little to help the current climate crisis, so look for the current improvements being made, yearly impact reports, or ingredient sourcing & production transparency. You might be surprised about how little substance you can actually find.

Collaborations, One-Offs, and Donations

An easy way for companies to appear more sustainable and caring than they are is through collaborations with well-known organizations, creating one-off items or lines for “sustainable” products, and donating a portion of revenue to charities. When a not-so-reputable company collaborates with a conservation organization, it sends the idea that they’ve changed their image and are now focused on ethical, sustainable living. While collaborations between organizations can bring a lot of good publicity and awareness to an issue, it doesn’t inherently mean that the businesses involved are sustainable themselves.

Take H&M X PETA Co-exist collaboration from 2021 as an example. It’s described as “a vegan collection that is completely approved by the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)” (H&M). While it may be made without animal products, H&M is one of the world’s largest fast fashion retailers, known for unethical, exploitative working conditions, creating massive amounts of carbon emissions, and sending literal tons of waste to landfills every year. Making a few animal-free products doesn’t make up for the harsh toll it’s taking on the people and planet, and the vegan products are an excuse to utilize cheap, microplastic shedding, synthetic materials.

Similar to a collaborative line, large-scale companies can make one-off variations of “ethically” or “sustainably” made products, and use this one example to tote their own “eco-conscious” efforts. They’re directly using these values as marketing tools, and keeping the values limited to a few products (the remaining products are almost certainly made with less-ethical sourcing), and only offering them for a limited time, encouraging people to buy quickly without thinking or looking deeper into the company’s lack of ethics.

The idea of making donations is another tactic used to attract customers into buying products, especially during Earth Month. Tons of large companies offer promotions to sell the idea of their own generosity, think “5% of proceeds donated to protecting wildlife”. While it’s great to support organizations doing beneficial environmental work, these limited time offers still encourage people to buy more in the name of “doing good”, and the low donation amounts provide far more revenue for the business than for the charitable organization.

Recycling & Compostability

One of the most common and widely accepted ways of greenwashing is through the use of “recyclable” and “compostable” materials. Almost all packaging has some form of recycling symbol on it, giving the impression that the item is therefore recyclable. However, there’s no regulation around the chasing-arrows recycling symbol in the United States, meaning that it can be printed onto any packaging without actually having to be recyclable. Recently, states like California, Oregon, and Maine have worked on passing bills to limit the use of the recycling symbol to only recyclable goods. Brands like Coca-Cola have added lines such as “Please Recycle Me” onto their plastic packaging, trying to shift the blame of pollution to the individuals while “polluting more than any other beverage company and actively working to prevent effective recycling measures in the U.S.” (National Law Review). The company was sued in 2021 for deceptive claims of sustainability efforts by Earth Island Institute.

Within the past few years, compostability has become a new front for greenwashing. We all know that plastic is bad for the environment as it never breaks down, so one would think the solution is to make the switch over to biodegradable products instead. In ideal cases, compostable items are much better for the environment than plastic, but only when the right conditions are met. Most bioplastics are only biodegradable in a factory setting, whilst acting almost identical to plastic in every other setting. If thrown into landfill, the bioplastics won’t break down, and can contaminate recycling batches if thrown into recycling. While many people and businesses purchase these “compostable” products trying to do the right thing, there’s a lack of public knowledge about the compostable conditions and even less access to these industrial composting facilities for them to make a beneficial impact.

This past week (whilst writing this article), the Starbucks India website removed all pages under their “Responsibility” tab, including information about Community, Ethical Sourcing, Environment, and Diversity, along with their lackluster claims about their “recyclable” cups and their effort to “reduce waste”. This photo from their own site was used to promote false claims about the recyclability of their cups. The US site states that they hope to “[work] on better ways to manage our waste” by 2030. The company uses approximately 7 billion single-use cups per year, a number which increases year over year.

Parent Companies

It seems so rare to find a good brand these days that’s environmentally & socially conscious, affordable, and readily available. What’s even more rare is to find a “green” brand that isn’t owned by a less-than-ethical mega-corporation. While it doesn’t necessarily mean that the subsidiary brands themselves are doing anything wrong, the parent companies are gaining the profits of an “environmental” brand while using the revenue for continued unsustainable ventures.

It’s definitely hard to keep track of every brand, parent company, and ethical concern that might be associated with them, so a quick search can help you decide whether or not you’d like to purchase and support a brand. Here are some prevalent “green” brands owned by pollution-heavy, unethical corporations.

“Green” Brands with Unsustainable Parent Companies
• Whole Foods - Owned by Amazon, who utilizes unethical labor practices and creates severe environmental pollution (Ethical Consumer), creating 465 million pounds of plastic waste in 2019 alone (Oceana.org), and named the 8th highest maritime polluter in the world in 2019 (Stand.earth & Pacific Environment)
• Tom’s of Maine - Owned by Colgate-Palmolive, who utilizes unethical labor practices, along with palm oil and cattle farming linked to large-scale deforestation (Ethical Consumer), and named the 8th largest plastic polluter worldwide in 2019 (Break Free From Plastic)
• Love Beauty & Planet / Seventh Generation - Owned by Unilever, who utilizes unethical labor practices, palm oil farming, and continued animal testing (Ethical Consumer) and named the 5th largest plastic polluter worldwide in 2019 (Break Free From Plastic)
• Burt’s Bees / Native - Owned by Procter & Gamble, who has been linked to forced labor practices, palm oil farming and intact forest deforestation (GreenBiz), and named the 7th largest plastic polluter worldwide in 2019 (Break Free From Plastic)

Know another brand that should be added to this list? Let us know!

Key Takeaways

Out of everything we’ve listed, the goal is not to scare people into distrusting everything they see, but rather to help educate them about the common marketing tactics used to persuade shoppers.

Photo from our friends at Ethos Santa Cruz

• Do Your Research - Look into the products and brands before you buy, and see what they’re telling you and strategically aren’t telling you. Search their own sites for official statements, and look at reviews and reports on third-party sites for a less biased opinion (be cautious of affiliate links & reviews). Don’t be afraid to reach out and contact a brand for more information, small businesses are often happy to help whenever they can!

• Know the Business - Most of these red flags listed above could be applied to any eco-friendly business, but their purpose is to separate out the brands that actually care about the environment from those that don’t. Many small businesses rely on this vocab to convey their values, make donations to help support organizations they love, and lack certifications because they produce everything themselves. The key is to know who the brands are that care about the environment first, and who the brands are that care about their profits first.

• Shop Small & Local - The best way to reduce your environmental impact and support your community is to shop from small and locally owned businesses whenever possible. While they might not offer the same name brand products at suspiciously cheap prices, they’ll likely offer higher quality goods that support fellow local brands and organizations. The smaller the business, the better!

• Refer a Friend - A great way to find brands and businesses to support without spending hours researching is by asking a friend, colleague, or similarly eco-conscious individual. Seeing what they’ve learned is a great way to grow your own knowledge, and get some helpful tips & tricks too. Head to a local refillery or zero-waste shop (or contact them online), and ask what products, ingredients, and brands they’d recommend and what they’d avoid.

• It’s Okay to Make Mistakes - With so much time and energy being put into other aspects of your life, you might find that a brand you were supporting is guilty of greenwashing, and that’s okay! We’ve all been duped by marketing before and likely will be again, the important thing is that you learn from it and know better for the next time.

• Shopping Sustainably - If you only have the finances to purchase from a less eco-friendly company, don’t be too hard on yourself! Work on making the decisions that are going to be the most sustainable for you, not just for the planet. Many ethically made products have a higher price point, so save up for investment pieces that’ll last years (and may save money in the long run), and shop used or second-hand to reduce waste and help save money in the meantime.

Greenwashing & How to Avoid it