Thurs Nov 3

  Greenwashing in Advertising

Real/true sustainable business, or a green business, is an enterprise that has minimal negative impact, or potentially a positive effect, on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy. Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. In general, business is described as green if it matches the following four criteria:^[1]

1. It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions.
2. It supplies environmentally friendly products or services that replaces demand for nongreen products and/or services.
3. It is greener than traditional competition.
4. It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations.

What Is Greenwashing? 

( the opposite of what is above)

Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or misleading information about how a company's products are environmentally sound. Greenwashing is an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company's products are environmentally friendly or have a greater positive environmental impact than what is true.

In addition, greenwashing may occur when a company attempts to emphasize sustainable aspects of a product to overshadow the company's involvement in environmentally-damaging practices. Performed through the use of environmental imagery, misleading labels, and hiding tradeoffs. 

Links to articles:  Greenwashing a definition. 10 worst Greenwashing Companies

Greenwashing in Canada.   Coffee pods not biodegradable as promoted

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Greenwashing is an attempt to capitalize on the growing demand for environmentally sound products.
• Greenwashing can convey a false impression that a company or its products are environmentally sound.
• Critics have accused some companies of "greenwashing" to capitalize on the socially responsible or ESG investing movement, misleading the public to make a business seem more environmentally friendly than it is.
• Genuinely green products or businesses back up their claims with facts and details

You are to watch the following videos and take notes. After watching, ( and potentially rewatching on your own) I would like you to respond to the videos and do a little extra research on your own. ( See links)
A response can be any of the following: Length:1 page typed in length. 

Please include any sources you might have used at the end of your response.

• What did you think about the info? Does the info make you concerned, angry, surprised etc.?
• Do you have any further information to add to what you watched?
• Do you agree, disagree with the info presented?
• Does the video make you think about some aspect of the bigger picture? Your own buying patterns? 
• What opinions do you have about what you heard/viewed?
• How do you feel about company's who are using greenwashing as a promotional technique? Are they being real and doing it for the right reasons?
• Are companies trying to persuade customers by greenwashing as a strategy to get people to buy their products?
• What does the video say to you as a consumer? Do the films raise any questions for you?

You are not to answer these questions outright, but rather gather your thoughts and respond intelligently to one/all of the videos and /or the articles you have read. This assignment should be typed. You can get me or Lindsay to read over your work to see if you are on the right track or to help with editing.

Due: Thurs Nov 10

CRITERIA: I will be grading this assignment on the following:

• Ability to present intelligent thoughts in a way that shows you have thought about the content of the video
• In your writing you will speak to the concept of sustainability in business
• as with any good response speak to an idea and when necessary back it up with examples.
• Start with an intro end with a conclusion.
• Think about your ideas and organize them before you just start rambling