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How can you avoid becoming a victim of greenwashing?

03 February 2025

In recent years, more and more people are switching to environmentally friendly choices. However, this positive trend has created an opportunity for some companies to use green thinking to their advantage by advertising their products or services as environmentally friendly, even though their environmental impact is often not significantly reduced. To avoid the risk of being misled and to make responsible decisions, Elektrum Energy Efficiency Centre experts share tips on how to recognise and avoid greenwashing.

What is greenwashing and why is it a problem?

Greenwashing is the practice of companies giving misleading impressions that their products or services are environmentally friendly. It creates an image that does not correspond to the company’s real environmental efforts or impact. This practice poses a number of problems for both consumers and the environment, as it means that companies can continue to take actions that contribute to climate change and other environmental degradation, as well as impede progress towards a more sustainable future.

Signs of greenwashing

Greenwashing can be expressed in different ways. The most common signs are:

  • Vague slogans and terms without data-based facts, e.g., ecological, environmentally friendly, organic, etc.
  • Visual design associated with an environmentally friendly product, e.g., green colour, images of nature.
  • Selectively emphasised product feature that gives the impression that the whole product is environmentally friendly. For example, the marketing of a product may emphasise that its packaging is made from recycled materials, giving the impression that the whole product is environmentally friendly. However, it does not mention that its production and transport may be associated with significant negative environmental impacts, such as high consumption of fossil resources or inadequate working conditions. Such selective presentation of information may mislead consumers and create unjustified confidence in the sustainability of the product.
  • Irrelevant claims – sometimes companies make truthful but irrelevant claims that are not relevant to the overall environmental impact of a product or service. For example, a company selling cleaning products may claim that its products are CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) free, when in fact, CFCs have been banned for decades.
  • Free-from symbols or imitation certificates that give the impression of being environmentally friendly but are not officially approved or do not comply with international standards such as the EU Ecolabel.
  • Unjustified promotion of a company’s "green" image, e.g., a situation where a company loudly emphasises and uses one environmentally friendly activity or product while most of its activities cause significant environmental damage.

How can you avoid being greenwashed?

To avoid greenwashing and make informed as well as sustainable choices, we recommend these 4 steps:

  1. Check the information! Before buying a product or choosing a service, check that the company provides clear and verifiable facts about its claims. Find out where the data has been obtained and whether it is justified.
  2. Make sure the product has the appropriate certificate! There are cases where companies have created their own "certificates" which have not been independently verified and validated. Choose products with internationally recognised and trusted certificates, such as the EU Ecolabel. This label is only awarded to products and services that meet strict criteria, which are set and verified by independent experts, assessing the full environmental impact of the life cycle of each product group.
  3. Beware of widely used and general slogans! Claims such as "100% natural", "environmentally friendly" or "carbon neutral" tend to be used in general terms and can be misleading if they are not clearly justified.
  4. Not everything that is green is environmentally friendly! Visually appealing, eco-friendly-looking packaging, e.g., green paint, or images of leaves or trees, does not necessarily mean that the product itself is environmentally friendly. Consider whether this impression is based on real, verifiable data or is just a marketing technique.