5 common ways beauty brands are greenwashing
Brands know that they have to do something about their environmental impact. But sadly a lot of brands end up doing things that make them seem more sustainable rather than actually lowering their negative impact on the planet. I think it's important for consumers and brands learn more about this so consumers can demand better and so brands will do better. Greenwashing is not going to cut it and I hope more brands start to cut the bullshit in 2022.
1. Plastic recycling
"100% recyclable!"
Plastic recycling does not work. it has been well known for decades. but brands still promote it as sustainable. Plastic Recycling is a scam and perpetuating this idea is just helping the fossil fuel industry keep destroying the planet. Only 9% of plastic has ever been recycled and only 10% of that gets made into something that even CAN be recycled again.
References:
Videos
Plastic Recycling is an Actual Scam | Climate Town
The Plastic Problem - A PBS NewsHour Documentary
The recycling myth: What actually happens to our plastic
Audio
Articles
The Recycling Myth - Big Oil’s Solution For Plastic Waste Littered With Failure
Here are 5 Reasons Explaining Why Recycling is a Scam
How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled
Most plastic will never be recycled – and the manufacturers couldn’t care less
Plastic Wars: Industry Spent Millions Selling Recycling — To Sell More Plastic
Exposing The Myth Of Plastic Recycling: Why A Majority Is Burned Or Thrown In A Landfill
'Plastic recycling is a myth': what really happens to your rubbish?
More Recycling Won't Solve Plastic Pollution
A Whopping 91 Percent of Plastic Isn’t Recycled
Recapping on BP’s long history of greenwashing
What Percentage of Recycling Actually Gets Recycled?
Report
2. Take-back-programs
"terracycle will take care of it!"
Terracycle (or PACT or any other similar company) actually can't recycle everything. They make their money from brands that pay them to greenwash their reputation and to take their trash. It is not safe from the landfill and some hard to recycle items cause more negative impact from being recycled than going to landfill. The intention of programs like this is to make consumers believe that all plastic can be recycled, which is just not true.
References:
Articles
What is TerraCycle? [& Why Going Low-Waste Matters More Than Recycling]
How a lawsuit against TerraCycle shows the limits of recycling trash in the U.S.
TerraCycle Is Corporate America’s Favorite Recycling Company. It May Be Helping Them Greenwash
3. Bioplastic
"it's made out of sugarcane!"
Sugarcane gets turned into biofuel that then gets turned into plastic, once it has been turned into plastic it is chemically the same as fossil fuel plastic. There is NO difference. You are still causing as much plastic pollution as if you use fossil fuel based plastic.
References:
Articles
Why Bioplastics Will Not Solve the World’s Plastics Problem
Five sustainable boondoggles: greenwashing all the way to the bank
What you need to know about plant-based plastics
4. Ocean waste plastic
"were saving the oceans"
Plastic taken out of the ocean is generally degraded and dirty. It takes manual labor to sort and clean it and in most cases you need to mix it with virgin plastic for it to be useable. This makes it extremely expensive, most OWP is actually "ocean bound", plastic that otherwise would of gone into the ocean. The only way to keep plastic out of our oceans is to produce less.
References:
Videos
Why recycled ocean plastic is (often) a lie
Articles
Plastic collected by The Ocean Cleanup will be burned to generate electricity
5. Plastic Neutral/Negative
"were plastic negative!"
The only way to actually be plastic neutral or negative should be not using plastic. Since plastic recycling is a scam, supporting programs to clean up plastic waste does not in any way compensate for you using plastic for your products. Cleaning up plastic is good, but it doesn't give you license to just make more plastic. The only way to keep plastic out of our oceans and environment is to make less.
References:
WWF Position Plastic Crediting and Plastic Neutrality - Statement
A Sea of Plastics Claims and Credits: Steering Stakeholders Towards Impact - Report
Articles
The Wild West of plastic credits and offsets
Plastic Credits – Helpful or Harmful?
Don't fall for it!
we need to do better.
It's not just consumers that fall for greenwashing. It's easy to believe something that we really want to be true. It can be really hard to accept that you were wrong and something you are doing is not as sustainable as you thought it was. Think about where you get your information, is your sustainability expert selling you the solution?
