Consumer demand for sustainability has never been greater but while many businesses are implementing genuine corporate responsibility strategies, others are ‘greenwashing’ their eco-credentials, making out they are much more environmentally friendly than they are. James Done, CEO of Tail, explains why it’s time for all brands to redefine what their responsibilities are and how they meet them.
Environmental issues are at the forefront of public debate more now than ever before, and rightly so. Without a significant effort on the part of individuals and businesses to reduce our emissions and live in a more sustainable way, we face an unimaginable catastrophe.
However, a significant number of cynical players in many industries are exploiting our concerns about the environment. They sell themselves as responsible, enlightened friends of the planet when really the claims they make about their eco-credentials are worthless. A recent global review of randomly selected websites found that 40% of green claims made online could be considered to be misleading.
Fortunately, consumers are getting more savvy when it comes to spotting greenwashing and PR-led gimmicks. Technology is also allowing them to make more responsible purchasing choices. Apps such as Raise Green help consumers to search their local area for green businesses, while Joro lets them calculate the environmental impact of each purchase they make.
Regulators are also taking the problem much more seriously; the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued its Green Claims Code in September 2021 with the aim of exposing the greenwashers. So how can brands avoid falling foul of the new code and take genuine action to be more sustainable, while at the same time encouraging their customers to do so too?
Audit existing activities
If you are operating in any of the following sectors, then the first thing to be aware of is that you are likely to be under close examination by the CMA as part of the Green Claims Code scheme. These sectors are textiles and fashion, travel and transport, and consumer goods such as food and beverages, beauty products and cleaning products. It’s critical, then, to ensure that everything you are doing right now is up to scratch.
Ask yourself what claims you are making about your products and services at the moment and just how honest they are. If you can back up the claims with concrete evidence, then great; if not, you’ll have to stop making them. If you use logos to suggest that you are an eco-friendly business, are these logos of industry regulators that you have genuinely earned or simply labels that you have designed yourself? If it’s the latter, then get rid of them.
The most important thing you can do when auditing your existing credentials is to ensure that you communicate what you are doing clearly to your customer. Any attempt to muddy the waters will put you across in a poor light. Also, what you don’t say is as important as what you do say. If you are guilty of misleading your customer by omitting key details of your processes, this is just as bad as lying about it.
Change your behaviour
If you’re going to talk the talk, you will have to walk the walk. This means you will have to review all of the things your business does and find better, more sustainable ways of doing them if at all possible. This isn’t likely to have a positive effect on your bottom line in the short term, but by undertaking a transparent process of self-improvement you can do wonders for your public image and – more importantly –help the environment.
Of course, environmental issues aren’t the only thing that consumers care about. The impact that your business has on the local community, how you treat workers and which suppliers you use are also crucial considerations. If you have aspirations of becoming a Certified B Corp then these factors will make or break your application.
Help customers change their behaviour
Consumers choose who they give their custom to very carefully, but also often need guidance on how they themselves can make better choices. According to research from Kantar, 23% of consumers want brands to lead by example and drive change in the world. Businesses, then, need to ask themselves not just what they can do to be greener, but what they can do to encourage their customers to be greener too.
Consider recycling schemes and returns programmes that don’t put additional pressure on logistics and transportation networks, for example. Can you make it easier for customers to return packaging? What about putting a returns system in place that means fewer vehicles travelling smaller distances? And how can you incentivise and reward customers for doing the right thing?
On top of this, think about schemes that you can undertake that will have a positive impact and will motivate your customers to participate in. These can’t be cynical programmes put in place simply so you can make claims about being ‘carbon neutral’ – they have to be transparent and measurable projects that stand up to scrutiny.
Be honest and open
I’ve spoken a lot here about scrutiny and transparency, and for good reason. It’s vital that any business that wants to present itself as green is willing to submit itself for evaluation and to participate in wider efforts to drive genuine change. Any valid criticism should be taken on board and adjustments made accordingly.
In general, brands need to be more transparent about their processes and get behind organisations that are fighting the good fight. Relevant charities and even competitors who are doing the right thing should be supported and highlighted; equally, hypocritical behaviour needs to be called out. If we really want to make a difference, then entire industries have to change and change fast. This can only happen if the same level of scrutiny is applied across the whole sector, not just to individual companies.
But the first step on this road is to put your own house in order. A key part of this revolves around incentivising not necessarily the most prolific customers, but the most responsible customers. Customers that recycle and reuse, make ecological purchasing decisions and cut their consumption. Only then can a company truly demonstrate its green credentials.