Greenwashing refers to the practice of companies of painting a false or misleading picture of being concerned about the environment.
The purpose of greenwashing is to boost the company’s image to the public, which of course affects their end goal: More profit. Most or all of these changes are merely lip service. The company does them to please customers and gain good publicity, not to actually improve the environment.
Companies invest millions in greenwashing. Marketers will come up with everything from new slogans, eco-themed packaging, renamed product lines, charity events for the environment, and eco-themed ads.
With all the money spent on greenwashing, it might be puzzling why the company just won’t spend the money to retrofit their facilities to be more environmentally friendly and come up with newer products that are indeed truly eco-friendly.
Unfortunately, it is usually even more expensive to do that (though in the long term it might be more cost efficient). Another reason is that a lot of companies do not have the vision or aren’t innovative enough to come up with better alternatives.
Third, for some companies their entire business depends on producing products detrimental to the environment’s health (i.e. oil companies). The last and saddest reason is that others just do not care.
