Have you ever stayed in a hotel that encouraged you to reuse your towel in order to protect the environment? The term ‘greenwashing’ was coined in 1986 to refer to this, and other practices, which appear to reflect a concern for the environment but are often really about cutting costs. Today, greenwashing is used to describe advertising and labelling that falsely represents an organisation’s environmental record, for instance, where more is spent on advertising an organisation’s green credentials than on making its activities more environmentally friendly.
Greenwashing is prevalent in the fashion, transport and beauty industries, among others. In early 2021, the European Commission reported results of a sweep of sustainability claims on websites from 27 countries, including the UK. In its analysis of 344 claims about sustainability, it found that over half lacked evidence. So how can we detect greenwashing?
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