Companies are becoming ever craftier in their efforts to pose as more climate-friendly than they are
The name of the ruse: a taxonomy of greenwashing
Mechanism
- Misleading information
- Attention deflection
- Attention reduction (absolute)
- Attention reduction (peer-overshadowed)
- Attention timing
Classic application
- Misleading claims made by firms themselves
- Greenshifting of blame on to demanding consumers
- Limited disclosure of worthy ambitions
- Decent disclosure but substandard vis à vis peers
- Delayed disclosure
Sophisticated application
- Greenlabelling by third parties, which certify firms’ performance
- Greenlighting of good-news case studies
- Fuller disclosure, but with greenhushing of details
- Greencrowding: substandard disclosure en masse
- Greenrinsing: headline-grabbing targets get gradually diluted
Advertising is 95% lies. Being a smart consumer is the tool to better choices.
Which is why we need better regulations for things like the environment. We can’t expect every consumer to make the best decisions, even if they want to they may be confined by money or other issues.
Things like disposable vapes are a good example of something awful for the environment but irresistible to many consumers. They have small batteries, are filled with chemicals, and coated with plastic. They need more regulations to prevent their litter from causing problems. We cannot rely on the consumers to make these choices as a vape pen is an addiction to many consumers.
FTFY