What Would a World with Little to No Waste Look Like?
November 1, 2024
Sister M. Catherine Labouré Busam, OSF
December 10, 2024
by Sara Grunberg
December 3
Eco-friendly or Greenwashing?
Scouting out environmentally acceptable products can become daunting while roaming the grocery store isles. Especially when companies try to trick you into buying their product by a sneaky marketing hack called greenwashing. Greenwashing is a deceptive practice where a company misleads the public about its environmental impact.
The term “greenwashing” was coined in 1986 by environmentalist Jay Westerveld. He used the term to describe hotels that asked guests to reuse towels to conserve energy, but did little else to help the environment. Greenwashing deceives the public into thinking that a company or organization is doing more to protect the environment than it actually is. This creates false solutions to the climate crisis that distract from and delay concrete and credible action.
Greenwashing manifests itself in many ways, such as misleading labels, exaggerated claims, focusing on one environmental aspect and hiding tradeoffs. One common greenwashing tactic is to simply change the product packaging to green. However, just because a company opts for green packaging doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve made genuine eco-friendly changes to their product or operations. It’s important to look beyond the color and assess the actual environmental impact.
A real-world example of this is when Starbucks released a “straw-less lid” in 2018 as a sustainability drive. At first glance, this seems like a valiant effort made by Starbucks. However, the lid contained more plastic than the old lid and straw combination. Furthermore, only 9% of the world’s plastic is recycled, so critics pointed out that the company should not assume all the lids will be recycled.
A more subtle form of greenwashing can be seen in plastic water bottle brands like Poland Spring, Evian, and Deer Park, which feature nature imagery on their labels. This is ironic, given that these bottles are single-use and play a major role in the global plastic waste crisis.
Unfortunately, greenwashing has become a common tactic used by companies to mislead consumers with environmentally friendly claims, even when their actual practices don’t align with sustainability goals. By promoting products as “eco-friendly” or “green” without fully backing up these claims, businesses distract our attention from their true environmental impact. In many cases, these companies prioritize marketing over real, sustainable action, undermining genuine efforts toward sustainability and making it harder for consumers to make truly informed, environmentally responsible choices. To avoid greenwashing marketing hacks, Figure 2 outlines ways to spot greenwashing.
As we approach Christmas and the season of gift giving, be aware of your labels and companies you are buying from. This month’s “call to action” is read your labels and do your research so you do not fall into greenwashing traps. Please share your sustainability successes with MaegenAnders at manders@sistersosf.org. If you reveal a hidden truth or a greenwashing example, please share with our community so we can all be educated and make better purchasing decisions.
Sara Grunberg
In the role of Sustainability Coordinator for Lourdes University and the Sylvania Franciscans, Sara Grunberg works as the common link between all campus ministries in achieving a sustainable campus. Sara was raised in the Franciscan tradition as a student at Sylvania Franciscan Academy, later graduating from Notre Dame Academy. At the University of Dayton, she earned a B.S. in Environmental biology, worked on a student-run farm, and learned beekeeping. From there, she attended the College of Charleston for a master’s degree in environmental and sustainability studies.
