In the 19th century, politicians who sought to clean up their image without taking any concrete steps to redress their wrongdoing were accused of whitewashing. When you whitewash a fence, you’re not actually removing the grime and mold that’s accumulated on its surface; you’re just throwing a fresh coat of paint over the rot to make it look clean and new.

Are you striving to make actual positive change in the world or are you just paying lip service to causes important to your customers? If you're not truly cleaning up your industry, you might find yourself accused of one type of "whitewashing" or another.

Types of Reputation Laundering

Businesses that superficially support the LGBTQ+ community by changing their logo during Pride Month while still donating to anti-LGBTQ+ causes are “pinkwashing.” Claiming that you’re not harming animals without providing any evidence? “Humanewashing.” Investing in a sports team to make people forget about your unethical business or political activity? “Sportswashing.” Do you see investors throwing money at anything with “AI” in the name, so you claim your product or business uses artificial intelligence even though it doesn’t? “AI-washing.”

In all of these “washing” examples, also known as “reputation laundering,” organizations are not actually addressing any ethical or social concerns; they are simply painting over them with acts that are ineffective at best or outright falsehoods at worst. Consumers and citizens are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to seeing through such half-hearted or even deceptive acts, so any business courting values-based consumers must work even harder to earn and maintain trust.

If you are implementing an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategy or marketing your products as sustainable or responsible, you’ll want to avoid accusations of “greenwashing,” or claiming that your business or your products are “green” without providing any evidence. Consumers committed to environmental and social causes take them seriously, and they’ll only support a business that can back up its claims. Here’s what you’ll need to know to avoid greenwashing accusations and win the trust and loyalty of environmentally conscious consumers.

Examples of Greenwashing

Not every business accused of reputation laundering set out to intentionally mislead. Some may have been simply misguided in their attempt to support an important cause. But it’s not the intention that matters to consumers so much as the outcome. The road to a PR nightmare is often paved with good intentions. When you’re communicating your commitment to environmental causes to customers, make sure to avoid these pitfalls.

Claims without proof. Just saying that a product is sustainable does not make it so. Any claims you make about your product should be backed up by statistics, measurements, or comparisons that demonstrate the environmental impact of a product.

Vague or misleading claims. In 2019, Windex released packaging bearing the claim “100% ocean plastic.” Does this claim conjure images of teams of divers harvesting plastic trash from the ocean and sparing poor baby turtles the fate of choking in a plastic 6-pack ring? That was likely the intention. It’s also false. The packaging did use recycled plastic, but it was plastic that could have been dumped in the ocean, not plastic that had already been dumped in the ocean. Windex was doing something good by using recycled plastic, yes, but they couched it in misleading terminology, and that’s what led to a backlash.

Generalizing claims. It might be true that one part of a product is sustainably or responsibly produced, but that claim cannot be generalized to the entire product or to a business as a whole. Make sure your claims are specific and limited. A small, specific claim, backed up by evidence, will ultimately be more effective than a broad claim that stretches the truth.

Avoiding Greenwashing

Familiarize Yourself with the Green Guides. The Federal Trade Commission periodically publishes guidelines designed, in their words, “to help marketers avoid making environmental claims that mislead consumers.” Familiarizing yourself with these guidelines can help you stay on the right side of regulations and avoid loss of trust or even lawsuits arising from false advertising or marketing claims. You can download the Green Guides here.

Publish Educational Content. Print relevant information directly on your packaging, and elaborate on your claims in your social media and on your website. Case studies, statistics, testimonials, infographics, and independent research all go a long way to providing the clarity and transparency environmentally conscious consumers appreciate.

Work Toward Certification. Third-party certifications and audits are your best bet for verifying sustainability claims. Customers won’t have to take your word for it when there is an independent organization verifying your claims.

Make Specific Claims. Avoid the traps laid out in the previous section. Even if it makes your efforts seem less grandiose, consumers will appreciate the honesty.

Your Customers Trust You, So Don’t Waste Their Goodwill

We live in an era in which the effects of climate change are no longer theoretical. Just as we can see the effects every day, governments seem less concerned with addressing them. The only solution left for citizens is to vote with their wallets and support businesses committed to preserving the environment. With the trust consumers put in businesses comes heightened scrutiny. To build relationships with environmentally conscious consumers, make sure that your commitment to the environment is real and measurable to avoid accusations of greenwashing.