Business

In December 2007, environmental marketing firm TerraChoice got a lot of virtual ink on their study called “The Six Sins of Greenwashing”. The conclusion: a lot of companies are misleading the public about how eco-friendly their products are. Just about every product surveyed (99% anyway) was guilty of some level of greenwashing, greenfibbing, or outright boldfaced greenlying.

But with the potential for intense scrutiny of environmental claims, you’d think the sensible move would be for companies to keep their mouths shut, to avoid any hint of ‘greenwashing’ criticism. And that’s exactly what McDonald’s Vice President Bob Langert thinks is happening. But as he suggests, not talking about environmental efforts (“greenmuting” as he calls it), may be just as big a sin as greenwashing. Check out his ‘Six Sins of Greenmuting.’

So where do we draw the line? Clearly it’s not acceptable for companies to stay mum if they really are doing great work, because industries not only need role models to emulate but customers have proven to support companies who ‘make a difference.’

The good news on ‘being good’ and ‘being green’ (for both companies and consumers) is that without a clear standard measure for what those terms mean, it only raises the performance bar higher, creating more pressure for companies not only to get their act together, but to lead.

As Joel Makower has commented, ‘As more companies claim some form of carbon neutrality, the value of carbon neutral as a marketing claim becomes increasingly devalued. And as the bar rises, laggard companies, even if fully compliant on the regulatory front, are finding themselves further and further behind, from a reputational perspective.’

So sing your own praises (just back it up), then push the boundaries more. Because in a competitive business environment, companies viewed as lazy on the planet’s environment will be judged more harshly by consumers than those trumpeting exaggerated claims, which come out eventually anyway (greenwashing will never compete with the power of the Internet wash).