In recent years, consumers have become more conscious about the impact their purchases have on the environment. This has led to an increase in demand for eco-friendly and sustainable products. However, not all companies are genuine in their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. Some companies engage in a practice known as greenwashing, which is the deceptive marketing of products as being environmentally friendly when they are not, usually for some form of financial gain; either to appease board members or entice consumers to buy thinking they are making a more ‘considered’ purchase..
Greenwashing can take on many forms. For example, a company may make vague and misleading claims about a product's environmental benefits, such as using terms like "eco-friendly" or "sustainable" without providing any substantive proof. Or, a company may use a single, recycled component in a product that is primarily made of non-recycled materials, and then market the entire product as "recycled."
One of the reasons greenwashing is so prevalent is because there are currently no globally recognised standards for using terms such as "eco-friendly" and "sustainable." This lack of regulation allows companies to make false or exaggerated claims without consequences. This is why you will have seen huge corporations such as H&M and Zara come under fire for their ‘conscious’ and ‘choose life’ ranges; they claim they are using less water, energy and more recycled materials but they still release on average 500 new designs weekly. We will leave it to you to guess how many millions of those trend-led clothes end up in landfill and what disastrous effect that has on the environment and local communities.
Consumers can protect themselves from greenwashing by being sceptical of vague claims and looking for specific information about a product's environmental impact. For example, look for third-party certifications and honest communication about sustainability efforts that are backed up with hard evidence. For example, Roekate only manufacturing in Great Britain demonstrates our commitment to a low carbon footprint and decent working conditions and salaries.
It is undoubtable that greenwashing is a serious problem that undermines consumer confidence and the efforts of genuinely eco-friendly companies. Consumers have the power to make a difference by being vigilant and demanding transparency from companies about their environmental impact. That is why we are as honest as possible in communicating what we are doing here at Roekate, the good and the areas for improvement.
By doing this, we hope to create a market for truly sustainable products and help protect the environment for future generations, whilst reinstating consumer trust in claims made by brands.