Welcome to Information Wasteland, a series about the many ways misinformation is worming its way into our algorithms and minds, wreaking havoc on our culture. This story explains what greenwashing is, and how to spot and avoid it.
There isn’t anything inherently wrong with using buzzwords in marketing. They bring people in, grab attention, and they can connect the dots with easy-to-understand language. However, sometimes buzzwords can dilute meaning, and in fashion, that can have a sinister impact. Greenwashing is a deceptive marketing tactic in which brands or influencers promote marginal improvements in environmental impact and use them to indicate a larger shift. Like when a fast-fashion brand uses recycled polyester and calls it a sustainable move, while still overproducing large quantities of clothing that use significant amounts of water and contribute to the waste cycle.
It’s not the improvement that’s the problem; it's the marketing. If a brand isn’t backing up its positive climate and labor initiatives with actions that will actually drive change, it's misdirecting consumers.
And now, on social media, it happens constantly, and it can be impossible to avoid. “I think like all of social media, it’s brought out the best and worst of everything,” Jazmine Brown, a fashion content creator and founder of Sustainable Baddie, tells Teen Vogue. In October, SHEIN, a fast fashion brand known for overproducing large quantities of clothing made from fossil fuel-based materials, started a TikTok post with an earth and recycling emoji. The announcement? Seven facilities have been certified “Zero Waste to Landfill by TÜV Rheinland.” This is a good thing, but the brand is by no means zero waste. These seven were certified, but the company operates with 5,400 facilities and serves over 160 countries.
Not everyone is an expert in fashion supply chains (and they shouldn’t have to be), and they may not know that SHEIN has more facilities than the few that they are pointing out in this announcement. It could lead you to believe that the brand is making larger changes across all its facilities, even though nothing indicates that. And for people who like buying fast fashion for a variety of reasons — be it style or price — that claim might be enough to gloss over the rest of the environmental issues.
“Everyone’s algorithm is different. If someone is following a lot of brands, specifically fast fashion brands, on social media, they might be more susceptible to falling for greenwashing tactics and might not see the activism that is happening on the other side of the internet,” fashion content creator Miranda Sanchez says.
But it’s not just consumers who are impacted by greenwashing. It’s workers and communities affected by fashion’s overproduction and quality issues. When people in Accra, where Ghana’s Kantamanto secondhand market is located, say there are too many garments being made and discarded, the loud claims of a brand with a ton of marketing money to say otherwise tend to be the ones repeated across the internet.
While it’s hard to suss out all the greenwashing that exists in our feeds, there are things you can do to avoid it. Ahead, we broke down three easy steps with tips from sustainable fashion influencers.
Be skeptical of language
“Greenwashing relies heavily on language without any evidence to back it up. If I see a brand on social media use the words ‘eco-friendly,’ ‘eco-conscious,’ or ‘sustainable,’ it prompts me to look more into their practices,” Sanchez says. In that case, you should always look for the why and how. Eco-friendly can mean a lot of different things, but if the company's overall practices aren’t reflecting thatbel (i.e., they are producing thousands of pieces) then that is a sign that they might be making claims that aren’t totally true to their actual practices. Sanchez also says to be aware of sneaky language that can be even harder to catch. “I’ve also seen brands use a ‘vintage aesthetic’ in their marketing campaigns to give the illusion of quality products that last, when that is in fact not the case.”
Check the about page:
If you do see a sustainability claim but still aren’t sure about the brand, it’s time to do a little research. “Go to their website and look at their 'About’ section. What makes this brand sustainable? What materials do they use? What are the conditions for the garment workers? Are they mass-producing or doing small-batch production? If you can’t find the answers to those questions, they’re greenwashing, babes!” Sanchez suggests. Brown adds that transparency in what a brand is doing is the key. “No brand is perfect, but the ones that truly care will lay out what areas they are growing in and detail the work that they’re actually doing,” says Brown.
To that point, if you don’t see more information on a website, you can always reach out to the brand about its manufacturing.
Look to smaller production brands and preloved.
If the tactics above don’t provide clarity, it's best to avoid. Shopping smaller brands, which typically have a more front-facing customer service to answer these types of inquiries, is an option. And you can always shop preloved because vintage is an easy way to step outside of the greenwashing cycle.
