Jul 13 2010
Top 6 Blunders in Sustainability Communications. Here’s #1.
We’ve identified the six biggest blunders companies make in communicating their environmental sustainability efforts and impacts – in other words how they “step on the hoe” in talking about how green they are. The first and most egregious of these blunders is a lack of substance to back up claims.
A study conducted in April 2009 by the “sins-of-greenwashing” agency, TerraChoice, found 2219 products in US and Canadian retail stores that made environmental claims or claimed to be “green” in some way. Of those, only 25 were judged to live up to their claims. (The evaluation criteria was based on best practices by the Federal Trade Commission and the TerraChoice Seven Deadly Sins of Greenwashing.) Nearly 60% of the 1700 products evaluated in the US offered no proof of their environmental claims.
The lesson for companies: Don’t overreach your data. Don’t claim what you can’t support. There’s no faster road to a loss of credibility.
Stay tuned for Blunder #2!