The term greenwashing was coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986 as a rebuke to companies that claimed to be environmentally friendly without offering any evidence to back up their claims. Recall, for example, Chevron’s 1980s ad campaigns featuring employees lovingly protecting cute sea turtles while the company was spilling oil into wildlife refuges and violating clean air laws.
To Prove Your Company Isn’t Greenwashing, Endorse Smart Regulation
It’s the best way to show consumers that you practice what you preach.
November 15, 2023
HBR Staff/allanswart/Getty Images
Summary.
Whether you call it propaganda or greenwashing, companies have long used marketing to tout the good they do for the environment while obfuscating any negative externalities of their businesses. However, thanks to the rise of the internet and social media and the proliferation of data on ESG performance, consumers (and employees) are now acutely aware of whether organizations are actually practicing what they preach. Conversations with advocates, regulators, consumers, and executives suggest that the most powerful way for businesses to prove they do so is to support meaningful regulations to ensure that their entire sector or industry will do the right thing. This includes exiting lobby groups that fight against such measures, communicating more regularly with regulators, and endorsing and advocating for more science-backed regulation.