What is Greenwashing? And How to Avoid It

The ethical and eco-friendly product market is growing and popular brands have started using these buzz words within their marketing campaigns, but unfortunately a lot of brands are making false claims and don’t actually have socially responsible practices within their business models.

When companies provide misleading information about their environmentally friendly initiatives this is known as greenwashing - a claim to deceive consumers into believing products are environmentally friendly.

What is greenwashing?

Merriam Webster defines greenwashing as expressions of environmentalist concerns especially as a cover for products, policies, or activities.

To put it simply, greenwashing is when a company, brand, or advocate acts like they care about the environmental, but in reality they don’t.

For the purposes of this article we are specifically exploring greenwashing in fashion & consumer goods.

Is sustainability just a trend?

Since more consumers are becoming aware of their purchasing decisions, climate change, and ethics the demand for socially responsible products is rising.

In 2020 IBM reported that 57% consumers surveyed were willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact and 70% would pay a premium of 35% more to support brands that are sustainable and environmentally responsible.

It’s safe to say eco-conscious consumerism isn’t just a trend. These values are here to stay.

Why are brands greenwashing?

Popular brands, marketing agencies, and producers are well aware of this shift. Unfortunately this has caused quite a few popular consumer trusted brands to engage in greenwashing by providing misleading information to customers in order to drive more sales to their product. These brands want to capitalize on the growing demand for environmentally conscious products.

Why is greenwashing problematic?

In a time when consumers are becoming more aware and willing to purchase conscious products greenwashing makes it harder for consumers to trust brands claims and identify what is truthful.

With greenwashing we’ve also see big name brands get the publicity for sustainable initiatives while small businesses who have been operating with eco-friendly practices for years are struggling.

Examples of Fast Fashion Brands Greenwashing

Many of the world’s top brands use buzzwords such as eco-conscious, sustainable and environmentally friendly; however, their products and services are not always that and might even be responsible for climate change. 

Both H&M and Zara are well known fast fashion brands that provide consumers with affordable trendy fashion. With the rise of eco-friendlier fashion, they both introduced conscious collections & iniatives. Unfortunately loyal consumers probably won’t do a fact check and might believe their purchases are actually sustainable.

As an advocate for ethical & sustainable fashion I’m all for big brands moving towards sustainability, but consumers have to pause and evaluate the entire business model of fast fashion.

Fast fashion cannot be sustainable because these business models rely on consumers viewing clothes as disposable. These brands create cheap clothing and expect customers to be ready to purchase the latest trends next season.

Is H&M greenwashing?

In short, yes H&M is greenwashing and hoping on the socially responsible movement because of the trends. H&M has had a few sustainable initiatives over the years. On their website this fast fashion brand claims that their “first more sustainable pieces launched in 1999.”

So….if they new in 1999 that sustainability was important why are they just now taking action? Back in 2019 The Norwegian Consumer Authority called out H&M for greenwashing and providing false information about their clothes.

H&M didn’t give any clear answers, but they quickly dropped their collection in the Scandinavian countries and started to expand the “eco-friendly clothes” elsewhere. H&M has also previously been accused of burning and destroying unsold merchandise which has severe environmental impacts.

In December 2020 H&M released their latest Conscious Line. The Conscious Line states that each piece must be made up of at least 50% organic cotton, 50% recycled polyester, or 20% recycled cotton.

First of all…these percentages are not that impressive especially when there are so many small ethical clothing brands making clothes from 100% organic or recycled materials.

H&M’s Sustainable Materials & Ethica Production Doesn’t Add Up

While exploring H&M’s Conscious line I did see a few pieces that were made with 100% organic or recycled materials which I was pleasantly surprise by, but I also noticed shirts as low as $9.99….which doesn’t add up.

While H&M claims they pay employees fairly (but doesn’t share wages) and some how uses sustainable materials…I’m not sure how they can do that and charge $9.99. Sustainable fashion is typically more expensive due to the high quality and process of creating the materials.

For example Barnhardt Cotton states informs consumers that “organic cotton is grown using non-GMO seeds which typically have a higher cost along with the other materials that farmers only use for their organically grown crop.

Farming practices for Organic cotton are also more labor intensive due to the restrictions on herbicides and pesticides. To this effect, organic cotton farmers typically hand hoe their cotton crop to remove and prevent weed growth during the crop production too.

Organically grown plants also produce less yield (pounds per acre) than conventionally grown cotton, so supply and demand also plays a role, as there is less organic cotton available than conventional cotton, thus driving up the price.”

Since the organic cotton costs more to grow, it costs more to buy the fabric and make the clothes. These costs can get passed to the end consumer of the garment. So I would love to see some transparency on how H&M creates their conscious garments for 9.99.

While using recycled and organic materials is a start, the mass production and quality of the garments is not addressed. This is the main problem as mass production requires a large amount of resources including water and energy and creates a lot of waste.

The quality of H&M’s clothing is not crafted to last and be cherished. H&M relies on consumers wanting to hop on board the next trend and designs their clothing to last accordingly.

Along with the Conscious Line, H&M is encouraging consumers to reduce waste by bringing their garments to be recycled. Since 2013 this fast fashion brand has had a Garment Collecting program that gives customers a 15% off coupon in exchange for unwanted clothes….the problem is this feeds into H&M’s fast fashion business model.

The incentive is getting consumers to buy more which in turn makes H&M produce more and furthers the negative environmental impact fast fashion has on the planet.

Is Zara Greenwashing?

To be honest when I was exploring Zara’s new sustainable initiatives I found it confusing to navigate. There were a lot of claims, but not much of a clear plan of action. Zara’s current sustainability claims include the following.

By 2023 Zara’s Goals include

• 100% more sustainable cellulose fibers

• 100% green to pack

• 100% free from single use customer plastics

• 100% zero waste

By 2025 Zara’s Goals include:

• 100% more sustainable cotton

• 100% more sustainable linen

• 100% recycled polyester

• 80% use of renewable energy

• New plastics economy global commitment from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation

“More sustainable” sounds quite subjective. When I clicked on these initiatives I was presented with a short sentence that basically said they will be sourcing from more sustainable origins such as ecologically grown linen, European linen, or recycled linen.

There wasn’t much information on the details of ecologically grown or the actual sources. Again while using more sustainable materials is a start continuing to mass produce & encourage consumers to impulse buy clothing that is not crafted to last is not sustainable.

10 Sustainable Fashion Brands to Avoid Greenwashing Fast Fashion

While there is no perfect way to be a conscious consumer I personally prefer to purchase from brands who have had sustainability in the business model from the beginning.

These are a few socially responsible fashion brands I feel have done a good job with ethics and sustainability from the beginning.

I’ve also included a pricing guide allowing consumers to shop their budget. Some of these links are affiliate links and The Honest Consumer will receive a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

$-under $75

$$- $75-$200

$$$-$200+

Past Life the Collective

• LA Relaxed uses sustainable natural fibers to craft high quality clothing. All of their clothing is made in their own factory in Los Angeles and they pay garment workers a livable wage and have healthy work conditions.This ethical brand aims to minimize waste in the production process by making in small batches, reducing fabric consumption, and using leftover fabric for other goods. Use HONEST20 for 20% off your purchase.

• Passion Lilie ($) is a fair trade and eco-friendly apparel brand working closely with artisans in India to craft conscious clothing.

• The Good Tee ($) is a sustainable clothing brand focusing on high quality Fairtrade Certified organic cotton t-shirts. This socially responsible brand allows ethical shoppers to easily learn about the transparent supply chain and trace the manufacturing process through videos and resources highlighting The Good Tee’s partner suppliers and the materials used.

• Encircled’s ($-$$) modern basics are consciously crafted in Canada using sustainable materials. This eco-friendly clothing brand focuses on versatile multi-way clothing encouraging consumers to invest in high quality pieces that can be worn for years to come. 

• Fair Indigo ($-$$)specializes in high quality organic cotton clothing made with fair trade practices in Peru.

• Jackalo ($$) is a sustainable brand of children’s clothing that is ethically made and crafted to last. This kid’s clothing brand encourages parents to invest in high quality products for their children & take part in circular fashion with secondhand clothing.

• Eileen Fisher ($$-$$$) ethically crafts high end sustainable fashion. Along with using eco-friendly materials, this Certified B Corporation has programs designed to make customers more aware of the environmental impacts of fashion. The ReNew and Waste No More projects are two ways Eileen Fisher is educating shoppers. While Eileen Fisher garments are more expensive, the quality will last you for years to come.

• Girlfriend Collective ($) focuses on Fair Trade Certified activewear made from recycled materials.

How to spot greenwashing in fashion?

H&M and Zara are just two of the thousands of brands greenwashing. Now that you know what greenwashing is, you can be the change we all want to see! You can educate your friends about greenwashing and teach them not to trust just any brand or a product that claims to be sustainable.

Tips to Avoid Greenwashing Brands

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions & contact brands. Brands that are actually sustainable and ethical are typically thrilled when customers show their interest and happy to answer additional questions regarding their initiatives.

• Avoid brands who donate to environmental organizations or plant a tree with each order, but don’t actually use sustainable materials or practices within their production.

• Look for third party certifications such as Certified B Corporation and Fair Trade Certified. This is a great place to start. However, I think it’s also important to be aware that third party certifications are labor intensive and typically cost money to obtain the certification. So there are a lot of small brands that do have ethical and sustainable practices, but have not obtained the third party certification due to their lack of time and resource. This is where reaching out to the brand via e-mail or in person is really valuable.

• Shop small businesses intstead of popular name brands. Small businesses often produce in smaller batches which has a lower environmental impact. Small businesses are also usually able to easily answer questions about materials, sustainability, and the supply chain due to their size they’re able to easily manage to process.

• Shop local and secondhand reduce your carbon footprint.

For more tips & tricks on sustainable living be sure to follow The Honest Consumer on social media, subscribe to our newsletter, & check out the Ethical & Sustainable Brand Directory.