Avoiding greenwashing

Want to know how to avoid greenwashing? In short, be truthful and be able to back up your claims with evidence and/or science.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has published 8 principles of good practice when making environmental claims:

1. Make accurate and truthful claims
2. Have evidence to back up your claims
3. Don’t hide or omit important information
4. Explain any conditions or qualifications on your claims
5. Avoid broad and unqualified claims
6. Use clear and easy-to-understand language
7. Visual elements should not give the wrong impression
8. Be direct and open about your sustainability transition.

These and details about how they relate to Australian Consumer Law can be found in their 42 page guide which can be downloaded here: https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/greenwashing-guidelines.pdf

Sometimes we’re too close to a subject to see if something could be misinterpreted or we’ve assumed a level of knowledge. An easy way to check this is to have someone outside of your business to take a look at your marketing and cross-check against the list above.

Feel free to message me if you’d like to learn more about how I can help you do this.

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My mission is to help grow companies that have products and services making a difference to people & the planet. Click here to arrange a no-obligation chat to find out how I can help you create impact, develop markets and facilitate change.

Hannah Welch