Buying Green
Illustration: Alex Mankiewicz
Green consumerism in Australia is increasing. There is a growing list of products that are marketed under the labels environmentally friendly, eco-friendly, recyclable, biodegradable, climate neutral, organic or just simply green. Advertisers are finding all sorts of ways to the promote the environmental credentials of products and companies. However, these claims are often unsubstantiated and vague.
The term ‘environmental’ may relate to an array of issues such as greenhouse-gas emissions, carbon offsets, water quality, and energy and water consumption - through to toxicity, soil management and animal welfare. A recent Choice supermarket investigation found 637 environmental claims on just 185 items. It appears that we are increasingly inundated with claims of environmental friendliness. As a result we are becoming lost in a green labyrinth of exciting and intoxicating advertising.
So how do we safely navigate the maze that is green marketing, without being misled? In fact, being misled by false environmental claims has been given a name - greenwash.
Greenwash has made an appearance in the Oxford dictionary and is defined as: "disinformation disseminated by an organisation so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.”
It can be applied to a product or service, and arises from a growing range of companies, government departments and industries.
Greenwash adds to the confusion and diverts spending towards products with negligible or non-existent environmental benefits. It prevents truly green products from differentiating themselves and encourages more greenwash, rather than product innovation.
In 2007 US group Terrachoice Environmental Marketing undertook a major study which identified six major sins of Greenwashing as:
- Hidden trade-off
- No proof
- Vagueness
- Irrelevance
- Fibbing
- Lesser of two evils
There are numerous examples of greenwash. Sanyo Airconditioners Manufacturing Singapore promoted its Eco Mutli-series of air conditioners as environmentally friendly by using HFC (R407C) "for a new ozone era – keeping the world green". R407C is a product which does not damage the ozone layer but on the other hand, it contributes to global warming.
The federal court found that these claims were misleading and deceptive and contained false and misleading representations in representing that its air-conditioning units were environmentally friendly.
Last year the ABC Radio’s PM program discredited a Woolworths claim that its Select brand of toilet paper and tissues came come from an environmentally managed company, that is certified as being environmentally, socially and economically responsible.
The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) has launched an action against nappy maker Senevens International, alleging the company misled consumers by falsely claiming its disposable Safeties Nature Nappy were “100% biodegradable”.
The consumer advocate Choice questioned Coopers' slogan for its Cascade Green beer: "Australia's greenest beer", "Big beer. Tiny footprint" and asserted that Coopers doesn't provide the reassurance of third-party certification, or support its claims with much evidence. When they asked the company about its green practices, Choice claimed that Coopers cannot provide comparable data on how it was performing in relation to other beer manufacturers in Australia.
Laws relating to Greenwash in Australia
The Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act) states that businesses must not mislead or deceive consumers, or make false or misleading representations. The ACCC chairman says that: "Green claims are like exactly any other claim that's made if they are excessive, if they over reach in terms of overselling and under delivering, then they run the risk of breaching the misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the Trade Practices Act.".
There is an Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS ISO 14021:2000) Environmental labels and declarations, Self-declared environmental claims, which contains information about the different types of claims that may be made and the considerations needed to be undertaken by business before making the particular type of environmental claim.
The Advertiser Code of Ethics also includes a clause about not exploiting community concerns in relation to the environment.
Certification & endorsements
A number of national environmental labelling and declaration programs have emerged to assist in the choice of environmentally sound products. These programs are typically organised by non-profit organisations. They consider the actual environmental impact of products, undertake independent assessment of the manufacturing operations and provide independent evidence in the market of the environmental load that has been assessed.
What can you do about it?
Do you really need to buy it? Most of our environmental problems arise from excessive consumption, green or otherwise. A simpler lifestyle, using fewer resources, is the most important step in reducing our impacts. When we do make a purchase, then we need to consider the best options.
Some questions to ask yourself
What natural resources were used? What is the content of recycled materials? How much water and energy was used to make and transport the product? What toxic substances are in the product or emitted into the water, air or soil during its production? Can it be re-used or recycled? And, how is the product packaged?
And don’t forget the social aspects of the production of goods. Does the company making the product respect human rights and labour laws? Does the company support and give back to the community in which it is operating?
When assessing whether you are being greenwashed, then the following question may help.
- Does the product focus on one or two environmental issues while ignoring others that may also be important?
- Does the product offer evidence of its green claim, either on the package, or on the company website?
- Does the product provide details for all environmental impacts throughout its life cycle?
- Are the certification endorsements from a reputable organisation?
- Is the claim trying to make you feel good about a product that is perhaps not so green? For example, is organic tobacco really a green product?
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