Greenwashing-What Does It Mean??
Hi friends, back again to talk to you all about a scary little word you may not even be familiar with… greenwashing.
Greenwashing, sounds a little bit like brainwashing right? Well, unfortunately it’s essentially just that. Read along as I tell you about greenwashing, give you some tips on how to spot it, and tell you how we plan to make our difference here at Noa & Co.
So what is it exactly? What is greenwashing? The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image”. Meaning, companies can basically lie to just seem more environmentally friendly. The growing demand for green, eco-friendly goods and services comes with the unfortunate consequence of companies trying to capitalize on a “trend”. This can result in a deceitful marketing technique that exaggerates the practices to seem and appear more environmentally friendly.
The term “Going Green” is being thrown around so loosely these days that it is difficult to tell if the products you are using are really making a difference for our planet or if they are causing more harm. Spotting greenwashing can be hard to do, which is the entire point, but hopefully with these few tips you can find yourself reducing your carbon footprint and doing your part in protecting our Earth.
DO YOUR RESEARCH. This sounds like a lot of work we don’t often want to do, but if a brand is genuine, then authenticity should be an easy thing to find. Pull out your phone, the one you’re likely reading this on, and go to the brand's website. Once you are on the website make sure it is backed up by a third party. If the company isn’t verified by a third party, they can just add marketing buzzwords like, “eco-friendly”, “green”, “nontoxic” without actually meeting the guidelines. AKA GREENWASHING! Like I said earlier if they are credible, it will not be hard to find.
Last tip I have for you is if you notice a label change. For example, if you see a cleaning product in the grocery store has a brand-new green label, you’re probably being greenwashed. RUN THE OTHER DIRECTION!!
At Noa & Co, we source our fabrics with our core value in mind, which is why we partnered with Healthy Seas. Founded in 2013, Healthy Seas has collected over 733 ton of fishnets and other marine litter which is equal to the weight of six blue whales! That's a LOT of trash! The fishnets that are recovered from the sea are then transformed by companies like Econyl, and regenerated together with other nylon waste into high quality materials used to create new products like our ELVTE salon capes! We are extremely proud to source our fabrics from organizations like these, and cannot wait to have our products in the hands of hairstylists everywhere. Let’s all work together to save our planet one step at a time!
