It is very easy for food companies and farmers to greenwash their products, selling produce as “local” when truthfully, it was grown in another country using inorganic procedures. Other mistruths occur in relation to the ingredients of a product, and the recyclability of large organizations’ packaging. Continue reading to discover the food businesses frequently using greenwashing to increase their revenue.
With veganism on the rise, as is the desire to market products as “vegan-friendly”, “eco-friendly” or “cruelty-free”. This is often not true for some organisations, who might be using the term to hide their other unsustainable actions and gain profit. Keep reading to find out about meat and dairy production, leather production and leather alternatives, and a new concept, known as “veganwashing”.
Do you know how the pharmaceutical industry negatively impacts the natural environment? Discover the truth behind their chemical use, and how Bayer, a global pharmaceutical company and owner of Monsanto, an agrochemical company, trick the public into believing they do good for the environment.
The UK’s plastic waste is 70% made up of plastic packaging and there are multiple examples of companies that use greenwashing on these very same packaging labels. This blog post delves deeper into some of the secrets behind the Coca-Cola Co, Tesco, and bioplastics businesses, enabling you to make a more informed decision about the activities you may be inadvertently supporting.
With the recent growing movement in support of environmental sustainability, there has been an increase in pressure on brands to focus marketing and branding attempts on these topics. The beauty industry has been found guilty of this, using unsubstantiated buzzwords such as ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ to convince consumers that their products are environmentally friendly. Due to no FDA-approved definition of these buzzwords, the beauty industry can exploit the lack of regulations and standards to deceive those buying their products.
Professor Steve Brammer, the Dean of the School of Management and sustainability expert, gives us his valuable insight into the world of greenwashing. He explains the concept of decoupling and brownwashing, how businesses overcome the lenient regulations, and even provides us with habits he has adopted to live a more sustainable lifestyle, such as avoiding the consumption of meat, fish, and dairy, and not owning a car.
Dr Annie Snelson-Powell, an assistant professor in Business and Society, speaks with us about her main research interest, greenwashing. She describes what the “talk-action” gap is in organisations, and from where the concept originates and goes on to define the environmental criteria used by investors to pressurise brands to abide by the regulations. Annie addresses how consumers can work towards closing the “talk-action” gap, urging us to be more curious and critical about the claims organisations make.
This week’s podcast covered greenwashing in the fashion industry, which is responsible for 10% of human carbon emissions. It is likely that this is not a well-known fact, considering up to 59% of green claims by both UK and European fashion brands are guilty of greenwashing. In this blog post, we delve into this problem further and suggest ways in which you can avoid brands that use greenwashing to sell their products.
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