Many large corporations, under the guise of taking environmental action, produce a plethora of reusable merchandise such as tumblers and eco-bags each season. They instill in consumers the perception of "environmental sustainability” while simultaneously sparking their desire to make purchases. Why is it problematic for companies to rashly engage in environmentally conscious marketing practices?
According to the 2023 Citizen Investigation Report by Greenpeace, an environmental protection network, it was revealed that among the companies designated for disclosure by the Federal Trade Commission, 41.35% had posted at least one instance of greenwashing on Instagram during the one-year investigation period.
“Greenwashing” refers to the false or exaggerated advertisement of a product regarding its environmental attributes or efficacy, solely for economic gain through the promotion of an eco-friendly image. According to a 2022 Greenpeace Netherlands study commissioned by Harvard University, which investigated the use of social media greenwashing by EU companies, it found that many of these greenwashing tactics included “nature image overuse”, placing images evocative of nature in the product description with no actual relevance. Other greenwashing tactics included “green innovation exaggeration”, which promotes unsubstantiated eco-friendly technologies, and “responsibility shifting”, which shifts responsibility away from the company and onto consumers by demanding they take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenwashing has increasingly become a significant issue as many companies invest more effort in marketing to align with the trend of sustainable development and environmental consciousness, rather than genuinely considering the environment. Consumers need to adopt an attitude of mindfulness against greenwashing tactics and consider a company's social ethics when making purchases. For example, one item consumers can be aware of purchasing is tumblers, which are popularly promoted as sustainable alternatives to disposable containers. However, consumers should keep in mind the life cycle of tumblers and how often they use their tumblers.
According to CIRAIG(The International Reference Center for Life Cycle Assessment of Products, Services and Systems), an environmental protection and recycling organization in Canada, using a plastic tumbler meaningfully requires more than 50 uses, and a stainless steel tumbler requires more than 220 uses. Continuously and recklessly purchasing tumblers for the sake of environmental protection is not the path to preserving the environment.
Greenwashing goes beyond a simple marketing strategy; it intentionally misleads the public about their environmental intentions and creates a false narrative of corporate social responsibility. A profound understanding of this contradiction is necessary, and consumers need to remain vigilant to avoid falling for greenwashing.
