Greenwashing

Climate warming and the alarming rate of consumption of natural resources mean that more and more people decide to change their lifestyle to a more ecological one. Therefore, there is a growing demand for cosmetics produced in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Unfortunately, apart from producers who really make every effort to keep their carbon footprint as low as possible, there are also those who take advantage of these circumstances and propose products and services that do not have much in common with ecology, despite assuring the highest possible care for the environment.These claims are usually vague, false or exaggerated. The described practice is known as "pseudo-green marketing" or more bluntly "greenwashing".

At the beginning of 2021, the European Commission published the latest results of the inspection carried out for the first time, focusing on "pseudo-ecological marketing". 344 claims , which for some reasons could raise doubts, posted on the Internet by entrepreneurs from various sectors (clothing, cosmetics, household appliances) were examined. Here is a summary of the results:

  • In over 50 percent in cases, the entrepreneur has not provided consumers with sufficient information to be able to reliably assess the truth of the claim;
  • In 37 percent of cases, the claim contained vague and general information such as "aware", "environmentally friendly", "sustainable", intended to give consumers the unjustified impression that the product does not have a negative environmental impact;
  • In 59 percent of cases, the entrepreneur did not provide readily available evidence to support his claim.
  • In 42 percent of cases, it has been suspected that the claim may be false or misleading and may therefore potentially constitute an unfair commercial practice under the UCPD (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive).

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