The Seven Sins of Greenwashing, applied to Belgian situation

1. “the Seven Sins of
Greenwashing”
What it is, why it happens, and how to avoid it

2. What it is
Green wash
(grēn'wŏsh', -
wôsh')
“verb: the act of misleading consumers regarding
practices of a company or the environmental benefits
of a product or service.”

3. What it is
Spending more on advertising green then actual
investing in sustainable action
Like BP, ”Beyond Petroleum”: 45 million in solar versus
5 billion on oil exploration in Alaska

4. Why it happens
1
changing buying patterns in consumer
markets

5. CFC FREE | ORGANIC | FREE RANGE | CRUELTY FREE |
BIO | DOLPHIN FRIENDLY | NON TOXIC |
BIODEGRADABLE | RECYCLABLE | ECO | CARBON
NEUTRAL | FSC | AGAINST ANIMAL TESTING |
VEGAN | FAIRTRADE | LOCAL | OZONE FRIENDLY |
CARBON OFFSET

6. Smallest of niches Very desirable
market, set to grow
1/33 1/3

7. “Green is a new sort of ‘good manners’”

8. CULTURAL CREATIVES | LOHAS | NEW WORLD’S
| BLUE GREENS | POSITIVE CHOSERS ...
high-educated, involved, opinionated, active, merely
urban, double income, early-adapting, ...
And marketers are starving to get them

9. Why it happens
2
Our educaUon:
we’re moUvated to tell the story
in the most beauUful way

10. Isn’t this how you would think
of advertising milk?
We are educated to make things look nice

11. Why all the fuss?
Why is that so bad?

12. HARMING THE FUTURE
 More complaints against advertising
 Undermining confidence in business
 Sabotage of environmental movement in
business. Damage credibility of sustainability
 Feeding cynical views on sustainability
HARMING YOURSELF
 Brand image damage, bad press attention
 Decreasing employer motivation
 Decreasing goodwill of strategic stakeholders
 Honestly…It is simply annoying
 And last but not least…

13. You don’t want this kind of circus
on your doorstep

14. 2 ways you can
avoid greenwashing

15. A
SUck to the MAIN PRINCIPLE of
GreenverUsing:
Green is special Green is normal
“Green Marke*ng is not about making
normal things seem green (greenwashing),
it is about making green stuff seem normal”

16. B
Be aware of the
“seven sins of Greenwashing”:

17. 1
The sin of suggestive pictures:
Green images that indicate a (un‐jusUfied) green impact,
like flowers blooming from exhaust pipes

18. 2
The sin of the hidden trade off:
Green product/ Dirty company
SuggesUon of being Green, based on a single environmental a`ribute, while
blurring all other parameters which are maybe more important.
Expl. talking about your 4% green energy, to hide all the rest

19. 3
The sin of no proof:
Claims that could be right, but are not supported by any evidence,
or by any reliable third‐party cerUficaUon.

20. 4
The sin of vagueness:
Claims that are expressed with fluffy language without a
fixed meaning, like ‘earth-friendly’ packaging

21. 5
The sin of irrelevance:
environmental claims that are redundant and unimportant for customers
seeking environmentally preferable products. It is irrelevant and therefore
distracts the consumer from finding a truly greener opUon.
Like ‘unleaded fuel (all fuel in Europe is unleaded)
…

22. 6
The sin of lesser of two evils:
These are “green” claims that may be true within the product category, but
that risk distracting the consumer from the greater Health- or other
negative impacts of the category as a whole
Like organic cigarettes

23. 2 Million Euro’s narrowing the ‘open’ debate to pro
versus contra nuclear, ignoring all alternaUves

24. 7
The sin of fibbing
out‐right lying, and produce
totally fabricated claims or data

25. Cut out and keep
“The seven sins of Greenwashing”
1. The sin of suggesUve pictures
2. The sin of the hidden trade off
3. The sin of no proof
4. The sin of vagueness
5. The sin of irrelevance
6. The sin of lesser of two evils
7. The sin of fibbing

26. Thanks for your attention!