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The Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Podcast
#251 - 7 Examples of Greenwashing
00:23:22
In this episode of Grow Ensemble, host Cory Ames delves into the deceptive tactics of greenwashing, where companies mislead the public about their environmental and social responsibility. Through 7 compelling examples, Cory sheds light on how...
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Hey y'. All. Happy 2024. I'm Corey Ames, founder of Grow Ensemble, host of the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Podcast and author of the weekly Ensemble, a newsletter for social entrepreneurs that explores the art of living and working sustainably. In this episode, I'll offer you seven examples of greenwashing so that we can both be better at spotting greenwashing as consumers ourselves, and as well get better at understanding how to avoid greenwashing as leaders of a movement for better, more effic, ethical and sustainable business. But before we dive in with a quick definition of greenwashing to make sure that we're all on the same page, let's hear a message from our partners that make this show possible. The Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation podcast is supported by Transformation. Listen to the incredible We Transform Lives podcast to hear about the extraordinary impact of entrepreneurship in the business. Innovations driving social and environmental change in communities across Africa, South Asia and beyond. Find We Transform Lives wherever you listen to your podcasts and for more information, visit www.transform.com Global Intrepid Travel is the world's largest travel B Corp and its mission is to create positive change through the joy of travel. With more than 950 small group trips on every continent, Intrepid creates that change by taking travelers on soul defining, life changing adventures that give back to the communities they visit. Traveling with Intrepid, you can explore the greatest icon of ancient South America, Machu Picchu, on a guided tour, or you can see Vietnam through an exciting mix of transport including motorbike, sampan, junk style boat, bus and train. Intrepid Travel offers small group travel that's good all over, good views, good friends and good times. With over 1000 trips in more than 100 countries, you can find out more at intrepid travel.com all right y', all, without further ado, let's preface our examples of greenwashing with a definition. Greenwashing is the act of a company misleading or misrepresenting themselves to the public as to the degree of their environmental and or social responsibility. An important note here, it's difficult to separate the environmental from the social. While the prevailing term for this type of behavior has become greenwashing, I do think that it's worth bringing attention to misleading consumers or the public about social shortcomings as well. Not to mention the adage what we do to the people we do to the planet, what we do to the planet we do to the people is definitely true. Misleading the public about your carbon emissions or carbon crediting projects ultimately affects people all of US think emissions and air quality, pollution and water quality. The effects on people in planet are inextricably intertwined. Other terms have come up here such as woke washing or purpose washing, but I don't love those and they aren't widely used. So for the sake of greater accessibility we'll stick with and stretch this term greenwashing. Now with a definition in hand, let's get into the nitty gritty examples of greenwashing. First, we have green by association. We see green by association when companies seek to capture certifications and join associations to garner some of the sustainability and social responsibility earned cred of those very organizations. For example, the Certified B Corporation community has worked tirelessly since the founding in 2007 to cement their position as the leading certification for businesses committed to doing business in a better way, more ethical and sustainable way. And in many ways they've done that. However, in the last few years B Lab, the organization behind this certification, has certified, in my opinion, some troubling organizations Havas Media, Nespresso, Evian and Spadle Havas Media A B Corp since 2021 just recently bid for and won oil giant Shells media account Nespresso, a B Corp. Since 2022 was reported to have child laborers picking their coffee beans in 2020. Nespresso is also a subsidiary of Nestle, a company with an egregious history of human rights violations. Evian, A B Corp. Since 2020 and Spadle, A B Corp. Since 2022 are companies that bottle and sell water in single use plastic water bottles. Their products are just about by definition as unsustainable as can be without being an oil and gas company like Shell. But member B Corp companies were so distraught about this, DAW even went as far to write an open letter to B Lab urging them to reconsider their certification criteria. Their letter in part read over the past year we've shared our concerns with B Lab on four separate occasions, including an official complaint asking them not to welcome single use water bottle producing companies into our network of purpose driven businesses that benefit people, communities and the planet. Call us crazy, but we think that if your core product is inherently and unnecessarily harmful to people and or the planet, then no amount of sustainable operations, workers, rights or charitable giving can make up for that. So far, B Lab has decided differently. This letter, titled To Be or Not To Be was written by the CEO of DAW and as well a founder of dawr. While this is a problem for B Lab and the credibility of the B Corporation certification, which in turn hurts member B Corp Companies like Dapper. It's also a problem for consumers. That certified B Corporation label is supposed to mean something. And companies that have a history of labor abuses sell by definition unsustainable products or orchestrate anti climate action campaigns are able to leverage that credibility of the B Corp label earned by member companies like Dapper to make their brands appear to be likewise in an elite group that's using business as a force for good. There's some idea that the certified B Corporation label on a product implies that the product is sustainable. Consumers feel better about their purchase and seeing that workers are more so than ever, hoping to work for businesses with values, purpose and integrity, the B Corporation label offers those workers some sort of promise. This business is different. This is exactly what these greenwashing companies are exploiting. However, if the B Corporation label appears to not be delivering on that promise even in seemingly isolated scenarios, it risks undermining the credibility and legitimacy of all businesses that have that label. If it's one member B Corp Company, say Ben and Jerry's, employing migrant children on their supplying US Dairy farms, it can affect the perceived legitimacy of the entire community. These large multinational companies are leveraging the reputation that many of the B Corps before them who do in fact walk the walk, have established by association. Greenwashers are leeches who will capitalize on the reputation and integrity of of others to make it appear like their own. Next Just a Little more the just a little more greenwashing tactic is employed by many a corporate CEO when confronted about a vile business practice. The answer is a sidestep, essentially saying only a little while longer. Let's take Tim Cook, Apple CEO, for example. Apple, along with many other tech companies, has been accused of egregious human rights violations to mine cobalt predominantly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cook's response? Don't worry, we're planning to use 100% recycled cobalt by 2025. So what he's saying is we're going to continue to use child labor until 2025. At that point, those children will thankfully have gathered enough cobalt for us to whether we can just continue to recycle what we have. This type of response is a distraction with the cherry on top being the seemingly eco friendly move to recycled cobalt, an attempt to strengthen Apple's image in the face of these accusations. The politician's promise is a promise made by a company with no plans to fulfill on it in recent history. We can pinpoint the example reported by Grist where investigations found climate commitments from 24 of the world's largest self proclaimed green companies are misleading and wholly insufficient to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius. In the wave of growing popularity around sustainability, company after company has made some climate pledge. Turns out pledges or commitments mean nothing to some companies. They perhaps see that they gain enough benefit from making the pledge without having to do any of the work to fulfill on it. The whole crux of greenwashing, and specifically this example here, is that it might be just as effective in branding, marketing and sales for a company to be perceived as sustainable as to actually be sustainable. Unfortunately, given the power, influence and resources behind many corporate marketing engines, and as well the status quo of an exceptionally opaque global marketplace, businesses can to some extent take that bet. These companies Amazon, PepsiCo, H&M, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Nestle, American Airlines, and sadly, many more have taken that exact bet, as they were among the named in that reporting from Grist. Next, the duck test. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck, right? If the product looks sustainable, sounds sustainable, then it must be, right? Nike was recently hit with a class action lawsuit over misleading sustainability claims. Investigations found that of the 2,452 Nike Sustainability Collection products, only 239 products are actually made with recycled materials. And for our example here, we're focusing on this aspect of the class action suit. The suit states the products that do contain recycled material are predominantly made with recycled polyester and recycled nylon, two materials that the case emphasizes are still plastic and thus not biodegradable. Further, synthetic materials such as polyester, a form of plastic derived from oil shed plastic particles known as microplastics as they continue to be washed and worn. And as it's written in the case, these materials are a prime source of microplastic pollution, which is especially harmful to marine life, and they are incredibly pervasive. It was reported just a couple years ago microplastics were found in the placentas of unborn babies. Just because something is recycled does not mean it's sustainable. Despite some of Nike's more egregious misrepresentations of their products, this point here is vastly more pervasive throughout the fashion industry. Recycled Polyester Sustainable? How are you or I supposed to know I don't have any expertise in the cutting edge of sustainable materials? Adidas boasts they are now using 96% recycled polyester in all their products and they are headed for 100%. Patagonia likewise uses recycled polyester and claims as of fall 2023, 95% of all their polyester used is recycled. Is recycled polyester better than virgin polyester? Sure, use of recycled polyester could reduce emissions by 32% compared to virgin polyester. However, it gets complicated. Recycled or not, polyester is still going to shed microplastics. And as well, to add more complexity, that recycled polyester is sourced from polyethylene terephthylate bottles or PET bottles, which apparently can be effectively recycled up to 10 times. And so while fashion sustainability execs such as Sienna Hannah at Nike tell the Guardian, we divert more than 1 billion plastic bottles on average a year from landfills, by taking that plastic out of a more efficient system and bringing it into the fashion industry, an incredibly wasteful system, they might actually be accelerating the rate at which that material makes it to the landfill. Because what happens to Nike products at the end of life? Are they being recycled or tossed away? Regardless, it's important to know just because a company calls their material sustainable or uses language that would imply it is like recycled, it doesn't mean it's sustainable. The bullfighter Adidas tells us the time for change is now. Their mission is to end plastic waste, and they acknowledge it's ambitious, impossible, even queue up a cut. Impossible is nothing. But they go further on to say we are one planet, so we'll tackle this as one team. Seemingly unrelated during the COVID 19 pandemic, garment workers in Cambodia that produce for Adidas were deprived of $109 million of wages in April to May of 2021 alone, according to the Clean Clothes campaign. Adidas is not alone in this pandemic era wage theft, but they are reportedly the greatest offender here. So apparently when Adidas uses words like we and phrases like one team, they are excluding the people who make their clothes. You cannot be a leader in sustainability while exploiting people living in poverty who make your products. The bullfighter used by many is a greenwashing tactic employed to get us to look over here while a greenwasher takes care of their business as usual. Ethics and sustainability don't exist in isolation. You don't get to choose which issues you'll be a leader on, and others you'll egregiously disregard. Green by acquisition in 2020, Purdue Farms, one of the largest poultry producers in the US acquired small consumer poultry brand Pasture Bird. Pasture Bird has made a name for itself by producing 100% pasture raised chicken using incredibly innovative mobile coupe technology and advocating for regenerative agriculture to become more widely adopted. Purdue Farms, on the other hand is under federal inquiry due to reports of illegal child labor this weeks after an absolutely horrific account of a workplace injury at a Purdue slaughterhouse that took the arm of a 14 year old boy. And certainly this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Purdue has also taken heat for serious animal cruelty allegations, and it was reported to Vox that the majority of Purdue's free range chickens actually stay indoors. So through acquisition, Purdue gets to add a brand that's leading the curve on more sustainable farming and poultry practices. If questioned, Purdue has a pasture bird, for example, to point to when asked about what they are doing regarding the ill effects of their industry and pasture bird is then put into a very difficult position of defending their parent brand or taking a stance. What do you think happens? It almost feels like the plot of a mafia movie. What happens when you take their money? They own you last Just telling your favorite parts Allbirds claims they are on a mission to reverse climate change through better business. In Allbirds 2021 sustainability report, which they call their flight status, Allbirds highlights in a large majority only their progress. In the introduction, Allbirds reminds us we've committed to cutting our per product carbon footprint in half by the end of 2025. We've also committed to reducing our per product carbon footprint to near zero by 2030. They go on to share they've reduced that per product carbon footprint by 12%. And in large part that's what the rest of the sustainability report is dedicated to, explaining how they've made that progress on their per product carbon footprint. It's annoying to say that so many times, right? I'm sure it's annoying to hear me say it again and again, but why am I doing this? Because on one page, page 23 of 24, they show that their total carbon footprint has grown. That's because Allbirds made and sold vastly more shoes in 2021 than they did in 2024. Percent of Allbirds sustainability report shows their total carbon footprint has increased. The remainder is about all the progress they are making. And to be clear to find this information you need to click into a PDF report linked once on their sustainability page and read through the entirety of it. Which I did. Till you find this acknowledgement. And perhaps you're thinking, hey, they told you, didn't they? What's the problem? The information is there. Corey on the second to last page of a PDF, let's all remind ourselves that we are contrasting this against Allbirds saying their mission is to reverse climate change through better business. I have to find and read through a PDF where they finally acknowledge that their net impact on the environment in 2021 was negative, a wildly ambitious mission must be met with a comparably courageous acknowledgement of where they stand concerning that goal. As for their 2022 flight status report, Allbirds informed us they made further progress on their per product carbon footprint. They made a 19% reduction compared to 2021. Oh, and as for their total carbon footprint, they decided not to mention it. Why? By choosing not to share details that might raise questions, I can't help but feel like a company is trying to hide something. Allvirs accomplishments with their yes per product carbon footprint are admirable. But in the wake of many concerning public stories such as their stock tanking 96% since its IPO in November of 2021, sales taking a hit, causing C suite shakeups, bringing in a new CFO who last worked at Gymshark and Adidas, or Fast company calling Allbirds a zombie brand, implying that the business model is fundamentally flawed and can only survive as it is on mounds of venture capital money under what seems like insurmountable external and internal pressure to compromise on your publicly stated values and commitments. You need to be ruthlessly transparent to retain your reputation and accountability. Crimes of businesses past and present have unfortunately put us in a position to assume the worst. To protect those affected who don't have the platform to speak for themselves, you must tell the whole story, not just your favorite parts. Let's be clear both defining and identifying greenwashing is not important to protect investors. It's not important to protect us as consumers of these would be sustainable products. It's to protect the people who suffer more directly from the exploitation, unchecked pollution and prolonged dissension into climate catastrophe. It's important that we buy what we're expected to buy, sure, but it's more important that livelihoods and lives are protected all throughout the globalized marketplace. Lacking transparency and lacking legitimacy in communications and sustainability claims is not about what is being hidden or hurt. It's about who. Greenwashing from even the best and brightest examples of better business muddies the waters and gives us a false sense of change and progress. Consumers are demanding more, workers are demanding more. No more false promises or half truth. Greening up the status quo won't get us anywhere. We also won't shop our way into a more sustainable world. We have to be honest with ourselves and all the various stakeholders affected by our businesses. Disillusionment works in the favor of businesses. Worst offenders the Amazons, the apples, the Walmarts who seemingly will exploit and extract in plain sight as long as earnings continue to increase. But to businesses that have committed to doing business better and encourage all of us to demand that become the standard disillusionment of consumers and workers must be avoided at all costs. And so complete transparency, telling the whole story, acknowledging imperfections before others have to, must become the norm. What's important isn't business, it's that things get better for the most people possible. Business just has an outsized influence and impact on whether or not that is the case. Greenwashing and mixed PR laced messages on sustainability and social responsibility are a hindrance to first making things less bad, but further making things truly better. We cannot forget pursuing more sustainable and ethical business practices is not about achieving business's greatest potential, but humanity's greatest potential. Alright y', all, that's a wrap. If you want to read more about examples of greenwashing, consider checking out the post@growensemble.com or it will be linked in the description below. Finally, if you want to dive deeper into the topics of sustainable business and social entrepreneurship, I'd recommend checking out my free newsletter. You thank the weekly ensemble where each week I send you an essay exploring the art of living and working sustainably@grownsemble.com newsletter. Or better yet, check out my new free email series, 7 Days to Living and Working More Sustainably. You can sign up for that series for free@grownsemble.com 7. Until next time.