Sustainability meaning in an era of greenwashing.

If you’re not hearing the word sustainability right now, you’re probably hearing the word greenwashing. But what are we actually talking about here? How do you get a handle on these two vast topics? Here’s our low-down on what to really look for if you want to avoid greenwashing and pivot your spending money towards brands that give back to the planet.

Sustainability. You hear the word everywhere you go nowadays. Its plastered on billboards, stamped on the packaging of more and more products, and is now driving governments’ policies around the world. But what on earth does sustainability even mean? And how about its offspring: green, ethical, eco-friendly, and planet-friendly?

Well, here we head down the rabbit-hole. There is no one agreed definition of the word sustainable. The United Nations talks about placing the focus on “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations”. Others talk about “causing little or no harm to the environment” and “sustaining ecological balance”. 

The common thread here is that all of this language is extremely wooly. 

Who defines what is “sustainable” or not? Who decides what we can - or can’t - do without harming future generations?

At Green Salon, we check that brands are as sustainable as they say they are.

Such vagueness has led to the cliche of the fast fashion brand that trumpets its one “sustainable” baseball cap as a planet-friendly initiative, whilst still churning out collection after collection of cheaply-made clothes that degrade the planet. With most consumers now saying they’d rather choose sustainable options, the lure of sustainable marketing has become irresistible to many brands.

This has triggered a wave of “greenwashing”. In an investigation in 2020, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) researched 500 websites making environmental claims and found that 40% appeared to be using tactics that could be considered misleading - and potentially in breach of consumer law.

Terms such as “eco” and, of course, “sustainable” are being bandied about without enough explanation - and with no evidence to back them up. They found own brand eco logos which are not associated with any accredited organisation and companies omitting information, such as carbon emissions, to bolster the impression they are greener than they are.

This erodes trust. Not only do consumers then end up sometimes paying more for fake “eco-friendly” products, but it also means that they stop believing that eco-products are really greener. And that’s bad news for genuinely sustainable brands that are not getting the custom they’ve worked so hard for.

While there are thousands of planet-friendly brands emerging now, and many big businesses pivoting towards a more sustainable model, most businesses were not designed around sustainability - and many are taking their first steps into it. How do we encourage those steps - while at the same time holding those companies to account?

At the start of this year, the CMA launched the Green Claims Code. It’s a 6-point guide for businesses to learn how to talk about their eco credentials without misleading consumers:

Any company that flaunts its eco-credentials now needs to follow this checklist

The CMA has said it will begin prosecuting companies that are seen to be deliberately misleading customers, and as consumers we have every right to point out where it’s happening.

The Green Claims Code is similar to the checklist that we use at Green Salon - but has the force of law behind it.

We’ve spent the last two year at Green Salon looking into the eco-credentials of over 300 brands that lay some claim to being “sustainable”. From fashion houses that have “conscious” collections to coffee brands that market themselves as “eco” to “green” cleaning products. We are not auditors but we do spend hours scouring their websites, reading their impact reports, asking the companies to fill in a sustainability questionnaire and speaking to the brands, where possible. 

We have certainly encountered the flagrant and cynical use of “greenwashing” - often among more established brands. But what we’ve also found is that many companies struggle to understand the fiendish complexities of “sustainability” and don’t always have the expertise needed to embed it in their business model. Many brands are right at the start of their journey into it. Sometimes it’s not so much cynicism as ignorance that drives their misleading claims.

Kib Tea are a regenerative tea brand that grow the tastiest herbal teas

Others, however, are models of purpose-led business. Their entire business model is built on eco-foundations. Elvis & Kresse, for instance, whose very purpose is to reuse material - in their case discarded firehose transformed into covetable handbags - that would otherwise go to waste. Or brands that are designed to embed regeneration into production, like Kib Tea, who grow tea and herbs in “food forests” that replenish the soil. 

Even for these brands, however, there is no such thing as sustainable perfection. The global supply chain is still at the beginning of decarbonisation and it’s very hard to check up on in many places as it stretches across the globe, often to Asia. So we champion brands that work hard to measure their impact, investigate their supply chain, have a clear sustainability road map and publish credible evidence.

Against a backdrop of suspicion about greenwashing, it’s vital that brands that talk about sustainability build up trust with consumers. They need precise and concrete measurements as to where they are now on their sustainability  journey; they need to explain clearly where they plan to get to and when - and give a detailed route map. 

Most importantly, they need to be honest and transparent about what they are doing - as well as what they are not doing… yet.

Our handy guide to greenwash spotting!

If you’re concerned about greenwashing, do check out the pre-greenwash filtered brands on our Directory. But also don’t be afraid to call out greenwashing in companies where you see it. You can let the CMA know about your concerns and they’ll investigate them. Find out more about how to do this here.

With $45 trillion a year in consumer spending globally, we consumers have a huge amount of financial firepower to make or break brands - and to influence which companies shape our future.

We analyse each brand for their commitment to sustainability but we are not a certification body, nor are we auditors, and we have taken the approach that we trust brands to tell the truth about their sustainability policies, practices and plans.

Affiliate disclaimer: ❀ indicates affiliate links with brands to help fund the Directory so that we can research further sustainable brands. This does not affect the price you pay.

Thinking about a greener lifestyle? How our directory works is a great place to start!