Sustainability and the Dangers of Greenwashing

With COP26 just behind us the pressure on companies to act against climate change is now bigger than ever. Combining this with growing consumer demand for ethical products, means that some brands are making false claims to keep up with their competitors. This is known as ‘greenwashing’ and it can do irreparable damage to your brand.

Consumers are therefore increasingly sceptical of sustainability claims, which means brands must communicate the facts.  However, measuring carbon footprint isn’t a simple process.  Many FinTech start-ups like Normative (https://normative.io/), a Swedish start-up backed by Google, are rising to the challenge.  Normative have designed a platform to help companies measure their emissions and identify hotspots as well as create a tailored reduction plan.

In a time when we expect authenticity and transparency from brands, only companies that are actively creating change for good will thrive. The companies that strive to make real change, as opposed to PR noise, are looking at completely different ways of doing things and are changing the systems and processes that are causing damage to the planet.  These aren’t always consumer facing propositions.  The companies that will have the biggest impact are the ones that change the infrastructure of the industry, by sharing information and moving the industry forward as a whole. However, this can be challenging when trying to change the way your customers do business.

There have been many innovations over the years. We’ve seen recyclable plastic kegs come on to the market.  They’re lighter and easier to transport, therefore saving carbon footprint, but they haven’t been universally adopted by the trade.  Changing systems that have been in place for lifetimes is no easy feat.  There’s nervousness and risk involved; people don’t like change.

Although many pubs and bars are shifting their focus to being more carbon neutral, for many this just isn’t a priority. Understandably the effects of the past two years have meant that profitability needs to be the focus. Companies need to develop affordable solutions with added benefits in order to get industry wide buy in.

Although carbon footprint in the drinks industry isn’t currently regulated, it’s sure to be in the future and the less dependent your business is on natural resources then more chance you’ll avoid the rise in the costs associated with climate change.  Being open to change and trying new ways of doing things is the only way forward and eventually it’ll pay to be green.

This article was written by Matt Coles, Strategy Director.