Avoiding the perils of greenwashing: how to make real impact on sustainability

Sairah Ashman

With more brands prioritising sustainability, the practice of greenwashing – promoting ‘green’ initiatives which are more virtue signalling than impactful – is starting to be called out by consumers.

The global sustainability movement has grown in power and force in recent years, but alongside that rapid ascent has come an equally booming side effect – corporate greenwashing. You don’t have to scour the news too hard to find reports analysing the prevalence of this – recent statistics from the Changing Markets Foundation revealed that greenwashing is rife at high street and luxury fashion brands, with 60% of environmental claims made by fashion brands including Asos and H&M classed as unsubstantiated and misleading.’

Of course this kind of disingenuous messaging is not only a feature of polluters like the fashion...

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