San Francisco Green Festival 2007

SourceWatch reference page on Greenwashing

Greenwashing is the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy.

The U.S.-based watchdog group CorpWatch defines greenwash as "the phenomena of socially and environmentally destructive corporations, attempting to preserve and expand their markets or power by posing as friends of the environment." This definition was shaped by by the group's focus on corporate behaviour and the rise of corporate green advertising at the time. However, governments, political candidates, trade associations and non-government organizations have also been accused of greenwashing.

The 10th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defined greenwash as "disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. Derivatives greenwashing (n). Origin from green on the pattern of whitewash."

Greenwashed products, and seeing through it:

Terrachoice Environmental Marketing, a for-profit entity that manages Environment Canada's national green product certification program, has elaborated on greenwash, defining "six sins of greenwashing" for products; Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off, Sin of No Proof, Sin of Vagueness, Sin of Irrelevance; Sin of Fibbing; Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils.

For products, indipendent third party Ecolabeling and Certification can help to see through greenwash by providing verification of environmental claims, however certifications may in themselves be a source of greenwash. An example of the range of issues to understand in identifying trustworthy certifications is described in an Environmental Building News article on certifications Behind the Logos: Understanding Green Product Certifications.