In the recent times, with an increase in the emphasis on environmentally conscious ways of living, many companies have come up with environmentally sound alternatives to commonly used products. While most of these efforts are extremely important and genuine, there are also numerous other companies that try to market their products by using terms related to sustainability such as, ‘eco-friendly‘, ‘biodegradable‘, ‘organic‘, and the like on their labels. This is called greenwashing.
Greenwashing is a marketing strategy used to attract consumers and increase profit margin through false claims of environmental soundness. Here, the seller tries to deceive the customer by peddling an unsubstantiated promise that the product is sustainable and less harmful for the environment.
The term greenwashing was coined by renowned environmentalist Jay Westerveld in a 1986 essay in which he claimed that the hotel industry uses the strategy of convincing consumers to reuse towels for environmental benefits and uses it as a smokescreen to save its laundry cost.
However, the origin of the term dates back to the 60s, when America’s gigantic electrical company Westinghouse was threatened by the anti-nuclear movement. Concerns were raised about the safety and environmental impact of various nuclear technologies and the company responded by broadcasting a series of advertisements demonstrating the safety and cleanliness of nuclear plants.
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