A common theme throughout my blog is the increasing adaptation of eco-sensibility throughout businesses. By targeting the growing “green consumer” market through this new competitive edge companies are able to increase their net income. One weakness of this large incentive that I was reminded of by an article today is greenwashing. Greenwashing is when companies merely appear sustainable through powerful marketing techniques successfully fooling much of the population through words such as “natural”, “green”, “eco-friendly”, and “non-toxic” that hold no factuality unless proved by certification.
I agree with Devin Spence who blogged the need to be able to detect when a brand image is simply claiming it is “green”. Further, I want to ask how, as consumers, are we supposed to distinguish which claims are viable? The issue is that there are far too many companies administering different certifications and therefore they become incomprehensible to the everyday consumer. I believe that these companies need to collaborate in order to provide a concrete certification and logo that consumers can explicitly identify as unconditionally sustainable. If consumers continue to be convinced by greenwashing, then where is the motivation for companies to instigate real sustainability, when they can still increase their profits by simply portraying an image?
