Caitríona Redmond: What if you can’t trust the label?
Greenwashing concept, woman hold a finger over a battery with the text: greenwashing, we care about the planet
When I’m doing the messages, I evaluate what I’m buying by reading the label and then decide whether it’s something I pick up. Sometimes I decide to buy a product that has been ethically or locally produced and often making this conscious decision can come at a price.
The best example of this is free range or organic eggs which cost more than farm or hen eggs.
Off doing my shop the other day, I came across a product that was labelled ‘climate neutral’ and straight away my raiméis-detector (“BS Detector”) swung into the red. On first glance, the packaging was printed in muted colours and had no glossy finish.
The item was European, emblazoned with green stripes, tactile, and branded with authenticity. Overall, it looked like the real deal; something that quietly announced that it was better than the other shiny products on the shelf.
Just because the product packaging shouts with eco-credentials is not a good enough reason to buy, though, so I snapped a quick picture on my phone and resolved to check it out when I got home.
After all, if it’s that good, why wouldn’t I share that with a producer? Unfortunately, when I got home and researched exactly what the producer was saying, the picture was a little more opaque.
Nowadays, many people are familiar with the term greenwashing, which the UN describes as misleading the public that a company or other entity is doing more to protect the environment than it is.
Labels such as ‘green’ or ‘eco-friendly’ are not standardised in Ireland or even in the EU, so it makes it difficult for consumers to determine if a product really is as good as it says on the packaging.
Tree-planting initiatives and spending money on local sponsorships, but neglecting to look inward, are other traps that businesses can fall into when shouting about their green credentials. This can lead to claims of greenwashing because a business on the road to sustainability has to look at every aspect of its work and not abdicate responsibility by paying for an offset certificate.
Like many businesses, the producer purchased carbon credits to offset aspects of its manufacturing process. Buying credits can be problematic. For some businesses, it’s a case of spending enough money on a certified partnership to balance their activities, which may not be eco-friendly in the first place.
Carbon offsetting can be a method of delaying or ignoring a business’s responsibility to amend its existing practices to a more sustainable alternative.
For the carbon offsetting recipient, the money earned from the payments is invested in their projects, such as helping vulnerable communities in another area to develop sustainable farming practices or maintaining a nature reserve.
The benefactor receives credits in return, which enables them to continue with their questionable business practices, and the consumer sees labels such as ‘carbon neutral’ on their product packaging.
At best, it’s an effort to help areas at risk adapt to or mitigate climate change, and at worst, some organisations shirk their environmental responsibilities by paying money rather than making real change.
Which brings me back to the product that appeared attractive on the supermarket shelf. Once I’d had a chance to research the producer’s claims, I knew that I was less likely to buy the item. I have less trust in the company.
The website talks about sustainable farming practices and carbon offsetting certificates but neglects crucial topics such as packaging, transport, and how staff are treated and paid. Aspects of manufacture can’t be shared in isolation and the entire process of sending a product to the shelf has to be sustainable for a business to be immune from accusations of greenwashing.
Until the Irish Government and the EU set rules in place for carbon or climate labelling, businesses communicate as much, and as little, as they like about their sustainability.
We’ve seen the traffic light/healthy labelling on food items for many years now, and the benefits of being able to measure how sustainable a product is compared to others by having a consistent label are clear.
While it’s something that both Ireland and the EU are investigating, we must continue to read environmental claims closely ourselves.
As the cost of living and the cost of groceries continue to rise at pace, consumers will shy away from choosing and paying more for ethically produced products with a premium price.
The sooner the playing field is levelled and all products can be assessed in the same way, the better.
While it can be difficult to distinguish how sustainable a business is, a “B Corp” is an organisation that has been verified to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
It’s an international certification process which sets businesses apart if you are looking for a sustainable product.
It’s Irish strawberry season. Those locally grown, luscious, red strawberries have a carbon footprint that is over 7.4 times less than imported berries or those produced out of season.
Proving once again that supporting your local strawberry farm is far better for the planet. Buy Irish strawberries while fresh and freeze them or turn them into jam to enjoy all year round.
