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Greenwash |
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Greenwash is a term describing the act of misleading consumers by companies regarding their environmental practices or environmental benefits of a service or product. Many companies have been greenwashing consumers through advertising campaigns, diverting attention with green PR, front groups, rejecting the impacts of their products or activities and working in defiance of environmental regulations.
Greenwash started in the 1970’s with the development of the environmental movement. With this the general public was acquainted with the ecological damage. Professional public relations companies perfected greenwashing, which has since increased or decreased with the political and public moods.
The environmental marketing company TerraChoice released a study named “The Six Sins of Greenwashing” in December 2007. The study showed that 99 percent of 1,018 randomly surveyed common consumer products were being greenwashed. These six sins are –
1. Sin of No Proof – many products claim to be “certified organic,” without any verified certification.
2. Sin of Irrelevance – many products claimed to be CFC-free even though these were banned 20 years ago.
3. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off- many electronics contains hazardous materials even though they are termed ‘Energy-efficient.’
4. Sin of Fibbing- Many products falsely claim to be certified by an internationally recognized environmental standard like Green Seal, EcoLogo or Energy Star.
5. Sin of Vagueness- Many Products which claim to be 100 percent natural contains natural hazardous substances like formaldehyde and arsenic.
6. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils – Some of the examples of these are environmentally friendly” pesticides and organic cigarettes.
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