How to Avoid Greenwashing
I was asked by journalists from The Recursive magazine how I would advise communication teams to publicize a company's sustainability efforts without falling into the trap of greenwashing.
Too rarely do companies fall into a trap, I replied. And too often it's about well-devised strategies, where the main goal is, in fact, to divert public attention from the company's major environmental or social problems to something else. Which seems to be more sustainable.
But, let's say a communicator truly wants to do their job properly and genuinely fears falling into a trap that could jeopardize all their work.
In this case, I believe there are a few minimal principles, dear communicator, that should save you from such an accusation, if you take them into account:
1) Be honest. Don't lie, and don't even embellish the actual situation to make it seem better than it is. Don't say you've done something you haven't yet, or pretend that what you've done has a greater impact than it actually does.
2) Be transparent. Start with your company's actual impact.
3) Don't use fancy graphs and presentations to convince someone how wonderful the company is in terms of sustainability, when the truth is that this chapter is a big challenge for everyone. And hardly anyone is truly wonderful.
4) Instead, work alongside the communities you impact. Listen to their problems. Create an agenda for the company's transition, taking those problems into account. And communicate that agenda.
5) Say something like, "This is where we are now. This is our environmental and social impact. This is where we want to be in X years. These are our goals. This is how we plan to achieve them. This is what we've done so far. These are the challenges we face. And this is how we intend to address them."
6) Use scientific data. For measuring carbon and water footprint. And especially, for achieving goals.
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