Let’s Wash Away Greenwashing

The other day I was studying for a marketing exam when I came across the topic of greenwashing. The textbook used Starbucks as an example because of how they market their recyclable cups to downplay the amount of carbon emissions created by their coffee production and transportation. My mind instantly drifted to all the fashion companies that I love that claim to be sustainable. It made me wonder if all the cute “eco-friendly” tags on their clothes were true or nothing more than a marketing ploy.

Greenwashing is a term used in marketing referring to presenting a brand as sustainable and eco-friendly. Greenwashing started when being eco-friendly became “trendy.” Fashion companies rushed to present their products in a sustainable way in an attempt to market their products towards eco-conscious Millennials and Gen Z.

Fast fashion companies like H&M, ZARA, and Nike started to present their brands as sustainable and environmentally friendly, causing people to believe their clothes were sustainable.

Nike, in particular, is one of the many companies accused of greenwashing because of their No Earth No Sport campaign. This has caused many people to question which companies are actually sustainable and which ones are just in it for profit.

With all the accusations of greenwashing going around, this caused Patagonia to be placed under scrutiny.

Patagonia is a known eco-friendly fashion brand. Since 1973, their mission has been to give back to the planet. Patagonia understands accountability and believes in an open, transparent communication strategy when creating customer relationships. Patagonia has, however, not stood untouched by greenwashing accusations, claiming them to be more harmful than helpful to the environment. Patagonia’s environmental action and initiatives director, Beth Thoren, released a statement claiming, “At Patagonia, we don’t use the word ‘sustainable.” Why? Because we recognize we are part of the problem. Previously, we set ourselves the target of carbon neutrality by 2025. But purchasing offsets to get us there doesn’t erase the footprint we create and won’t save us in the long run. We must first put the weight of our business behind drastically cutting emissions across the full length of our supply chain.”

By advocating for the betterment of the environment over their products to customers, they create customer trust, and in doing so, they also communicate that they are willing to forego profits in honor of the greater good by publishing exactly how much carbon emissions come from their supply chain.

While Patagonia’s greenwashing accusations were proven untrue, many other companies were proven to be accurate. So how do we know which companies are truly sustainable? The UN has asked this same question and come up with the solution of transparency. They called for the annual release of each organization’s greenhouse emissions to be published alongside baseline data and that the data must be in an open format accessible globally.

Whether people choose to educate themselves from there is up to them. As consumers, it is our duty to effectively research during the consumer buying process to discover which companies are the best for the planet rather than which company has the cutest clothes. It's time to wash away greenwashing with something even more effective: research.