'Greenwashing' is a problem. Which products are 🌱 green and communicating it effectively?

Nathan Challen
6 replies
Since submitting my product to the Makers Festival last week, I've been going a bit of customer discovery. I've been talking to founders about their attitudes to green products and their willingness to adding a https://greenhabit.app badge to their sites. There is a positive response to those that get the legitimacy of the product. Yet, in general I sense _green fatigue_ has set in. Those in this category are in the view that a green badge can be 'bought' simply through a donation or claimed (yet proof less) effort. 'Greenwashing' is rampant and clearly having a negative affect on attitudes in the market. What products do you know or use, made or are making that are legitimately green?

Replies

Audrey Rampon
Can you give an example of a legitimately green product vs. a green washed one?
Nathan Challen
@audrey_rampon Good question! An example given to me was https://handprint.tech/impact/ which looks pretty legit vs... a number of brands I'd rather not mention but you can find in articles like: https://medium.com/disruptive-de...
Nik Hazell
Brewdog are mired in controversy at the moment - and I don't for a second want to downplay what's going on - but, if taken at face value, their environmental action has been significant and broad! More broadly, it's super hard to use a one-size-fits-all "certification/stamp" type scheme - as an example, we've recently gone through the B Corp certification process. The environmental components there seemed much more targeted at factories and large workforces than at software companies...
Cica-Laure Mbappé
Greenwashing is limited now, brands know that they can't fake sustainable strategies and results now. I like what Veja does in terms of branding. Their LinkedIn page is transparent and they promote partnerships with other legit green brands.
Nathan Challen
@cica_laure_mbappe I agree the status has improved since regulation and heavy fines have been introduced. Her in Australia 🇦🇺 the fine is up to $6M. Large companies and brands are big targets for both consumer scrutiny and regulatory checks. Yet, it is the other millions of companies medium and small that would never warrant an investigation as gov't simply does not have the resources. Thanks for Veja! they are doing it well as the green ethic and message is in every aspect, truely authentic.
Nik Hazell
@cica_laure_mbappe @emotf There's a surf company that's got brilliant branding. I love what it looks like, and I love what they say they stand for. However, in their branding, there's loads of big, polluting cars - they've literally tangled up their eco surf brand with Land Rovers, Jeeps, and Porches. It seems so stupid, and it makes me furious!