Opinion: The sustainability sham – The idea behind greenwashing, coined by Jay Westervelt in 1986, was the product of a critique at the motives of the hotel industry’s futile campaign to reuse towels – Millennials have mastered the perception of being active members of the green movement with the help of companies promoting products as environmentally friendly – Sustainability sham environmentally friendly - Arhive
Young shoppers are keeping Mother Earth in mind with back-to-school shopping, and so are retailers.USA TODAY
Millennials have mastered the perception of being active members of the green movement with the help of companies promoting products as environmentally friendly – oblivious to the fact they are victims of “greenwashing” and getting their bank broken.
The idea behind greenwashing, coined by Jay Westervelt in 1986, was the product of a critique at the motives of the hotel industry’s futile campaign to reuse towels with paper placards sitting coy in the corner of every room. Inconsequential, as it further progressed the waste of natural resources.
Young adults, specifically the ages between 18-34, are known for their ability to come up with trends and gain a following, which is exactly what’s happening. Young consumers across the world have established a demand for a sustainable products, inviting big corporations to capitalize on consumers and their naivety.
Buyers are being deceived by green and earthy toned packaging, attempting to give voice to their level of sustainability. Fabricators of these so-called “sustainable” products only have one goal in mind – getting more money.
With the recent spike in popularity of living green, people are more likely to purchase a product that looks as if it were made sustainably, kickstarting the trend of manufacturers cutting corners on regulations and investing more money in advertising their product with environmental jargon.
In a case study from Leeds University, it was found that the majority of marketing research into green advertising has been driven by the prospect of improving market efficiency instead of mitigating the vast environmental stresses that come with various steps of manufacture. With this in mind, it is our responsibility, as young consumers, to fully understand the environmental externalities of products being purchased by the most influential demographic in the market.
Today, green tags and clip art of planet earth fill shelves across a variety of consumer mediums.
Brands that can demonstrate sustainability through packaging with a slight expression of end-to-end corporate responsibility are more likely to win the hearts of millennials. Proposing the idea that corporations demonstrating their product as sustainable, rather than taking measures to ensure its friendliness to our environment, is a direct result of an impressionable consumer market, and the desire to be a part of a movement – two traits young adults share.
The way in which products are presented to us takes ownership as the sole driver in the decision of whether we commit to the product or not. Instead of seeing the greenhouse gasses dispersing from production plants, or the waste ending up in our oceans, the brown speckled wrapping kept together with a piece of hemp catches our eye. It appears to be natural, so it must be sustainable.
The greater problem with falsifying the sustainability of goods is that it undermines the severity of the state of our environment, and creates a positive feedback loop of hazardous products cycling through the market. Regulations have been put in place in hopes of alleviating concerns, but it is a matter of which corporations are speaking the truth when claiming to be environmentally conscious. Without strict regulations on the manufacture of goods, consumers will continue to intensify their harmful environmental effects.
In order to mitigate the issue at hand, it is necessary to stress the importance of the net effects that the products we consume everyday are putting on our fragile environment. With a broader awareness will come a greater knowledge of the ways we can be deceived by companies just trying to earn a larger profit.
A hybrid approach composed of education on the net cost and life cycle of goods, and a way to follow-up with manufacturers providing a mode of communication confirming that their methods and processes are up to standards, will expose potential environmental threats and help counteract the behavior of past consumers.
The end goal being, a smarter consumer base and no more big corporation bull.
By investing in corporations willing to take appropriate sustainable measures, we are ensuring a sustainable market and producing a generation motivated to opening the blinds on big corporation business.
Shelby Long, of Burlington, is studying environmental science at the University of Vermont.
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