«We can cowardly close our eyes, turn our heads away, pretend not to see but we cannot remain indifferent if we have seen” Abbé Pierre.
The economist Robert Reich said, “when you hear a company boast about being environmentally friendly, don’t applaud. In an ultra-competitive capitalism, which I call ‘super capitalism’, it is naïve to think that companies may or may not sacrifice profits and shareholder returns to fight global warming. Companies that go green to improve public relations, cut costs or anticipate regulation are smart, not virtuous”.
The word greenwashing hides all the beautiful promises of eco-responsibility of large companies. This word makes it possible to forget the reality, it is to display an eco-responsible posture while in fact nothing follows.
There are many lies about this industry that claims to be greener, there are strong doubts about the reality of the CSR of the e-commerce giants.
Indeed, even if each consumer wants to make efforts on his way of consuming, it is often controversial. It is not uncommon for us to want to deposit our old clothes in sorting bins thinking that they will be given to people in need. On the other hand, these clothes are collected by the Red Cross and then sold for a pittance to large collection centers. These collection centers then sort the clothes and keep those in the best condition so that they can be resold. The most worn clothes are sent to Africa and will be sold to the local population and then incinerated or will end up on the beach.
How to recognize greenwashing?
-Putting green in your visuals so that people unconsciously associate the image with everything natural
-use vocabulary that is part of the ecological jargon
-making disproportionate promises
-a severe lack of transparency
-self-attributing labels created by the brand itself.
How can you recognize a truly responsible brand?
-brands with certified labels
-brands that have reports like Corporate Social Responsibility
The more consumers fall for greenwashing, the more brands will use this marketing methods to increase their sales. That is why we need to educate our eyes to detect greenwashing!
Know more about the fashion industry at:
Responsible Production Of Jeans
The Links Between The Sustainable Development Goals And Fashion
