Greenwashing: Is it blocking the path to a sustainable future?
Greenwashing is a widespread practice across businesses and government as is impacting people’s reality of the climate emergency by giving a false impression of their business efforts. Buzzwords like 'eco-conscious' and 'going green' are key perpetrators in pushing the false environmentally friendly narrative.
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| Credit: Reuters. |
Brands continue to sell products claiming a start towards a sustainable
future, but the reality is that these marketed commodities are unrecyclable or
have little impact. Plastic packaging in the UK makes up nearly 70% of the
country’s plastic waste, but only 10% of this gets recycled. Growing concerns
about the environment has seen an increased awareness of green-washing. In a
2015 poll, 72% of consumers argued they are willing to pay more for
environmentally friendly products. But what is the real truth behind this faux sustainability?
Many big brands are guilty of greenwashing, predominantly those
who claim their plastic packaging is eco-friendly. Coca-Cola is a big culprit
of this, with claims that the plastic is recyclable being put forward with
little proof. The company claims they have spent millions promoting an
innovative bottle made up of 25% marine plastic, yet fail to mention that the
brand is the world’s biggest plastic polluter.
Another example of greenwashing is Kim Kardashian’s Skims, which
comes in compostable underwear packing stating ‘I am not plastic.’ For those
that read the small print, the product is plastic type 4.
A large
contributor to the green-washing concept is the water industry. Companies spend
a large amount of money advertising bottled water as healthy, natural and good
for the planet. However, only 31% of plastic bottles end up at recycling
plants, meaning this 'progressive' industry is only increasing the amount of
global waste.
Campaigners
urge buyers to remain sceptical and inquisitive when hearing a company claim to
be saving the planet, with many companies investing more time and money into false
advertising than the path towards sustainability.
Only
last week, Dutch environmental groups, Fossielvrij NL and ClientEarth, sued the
Dutch subsidiary of Air France, KLM, due to their misleading advertising
campaign. Their campaign allegedly breached European consumer law due to
greenwashing, by indicating that their flights were rather sustainable.
KLM
continues to claim it has invested millions in being a sustainable airline as
is working towards the industry goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Their
most recent advert ‘Fly Responsibly’ gives the false impression that its flights
do not contribute to the climate crisis. The campaign urges customers to
pioneer a sustainable future for aviation by contributing to the cost of
greener aviation through its CO2ZERO offers.
The
airline’s spokesperson commented: ‘It would certainly not be in our interests
to misinform our customers. It’s our responsibility to make future travel as
sustainable as possible.’
However,
a Fossielvrij NL campaigner, Hiske Arts, hit back at the statement: ‘There is
no way [KLM] can do this while planning continuous air-traffic growth that will
fuel the breakdown of our climate.’
The
Dutch court have yet to decide whether the case can proceed before KLM has to
file a defence.
In December last year, the European Commission released a proposal
as a list of economic activities that investors can label and market as green
in the EU. However, the European Parliament quickly became under fire for
marketing fossil fuels and nuclear energy as ‘green’ with Greenpeace labelling
it as ‘dirty politics.’ The provisions will allow all new gas plants to be
labelled green, despite little to no sustainability.
Even with this allegedly forward move, the Climate Change Committee
announced earlier this month that the government are failing to enact the policies
needed to reach the UK’s net zero targets.