Greenwashing

Greenwashing (or green marketing) is used to promote the perception that an organization's aims and policies are environmentally friendly, when in reality, they're not. Whether it is to increase profits or gain political support, greenwashing may be used to manipulate popular opinion and trick consumers to support products and services otherwise questionable.

For example... in the lodging industry, a hotel chain that calls itself “green” because it allows guests to choose to sleep on the same sheets and reuse towels, but actually does very little to save water, energy and resources where it counts — on its grounds, with its appliances and lighting, in its kitchens, and with its vehicle fleet.

Websites such as he Green Washing Index and Stop Greenwash, aim to  educate consumers about how to “read” an ad and encourage them to decide for themselves if what they’re seeing is greenwashing. Their purpose is that with a better-informed public, businesses will start to:

• Have a sustainable business before they advertise they’re a sustainable business. 
• Be accountable for the sustainable practices they claim to have

That way we can put an end to the greenwashing and get busy with real environmental change.