Explosive consumer poll: Is greenwashing working?
Retail Week’s Green is the New Black report has ignited debate on social media as to how much consumers know – and care – about sustainability. We take a closer look at its findings
On March 14, Retail Week published Green is the New Black, a deep dive into retail and fashion sustainability featuring independent research with 1,000 UK consumers aged 18 to 64, surveyed in January 2022.
One of the top findings of the report, produced in association with Infor, has sparked explosive conversations across the web: the fact that when asked, unprompted, to name the retailer or brand they felt was the best for sustainability, consumers gave H&M, Nike, Primark, M&S and Amazon as their top five.
This was both a surprising result and a head-in-hands moment for sustainability campaigners given the criticism retailers such as Primark and Amazon have faced in the past.
Sustainability influencers, including fair fashion campaigner Venetia La Manna, said the report finding showed “greenwashing is working”.
Similarly, the grassroots anti-sweatshop campaign No Sweat argued that the finding was linked to how “the biggest corporations have the economic power to manipulate consumers into seeing them as ethical and sustainable”.
"Consumers named their top five most sustainable companies in the industry as H&M, Nike, Primark, M&S and Amazon". I don't know whether to laugh or cry.https://t.co/zMNIUIqPPR
— Venetia La Manna (@venetialamanna) March 16, 2022
The money being spent on greenwashing campaigns (instead of paying garment makers fair living wages) is WORKING 😭 https://t.co/HbbgrtrVWX
— Venetia La Manna (@venetialamanna) March 17, 2022
So is greenwashing working?
Greenwashing is the use of misleading, vague or false claims about sustainability in an effort to attract consumers.
In the report, we draw on the data to show how consumers perceive greenwashing and their understanding of it. The top line shows that a significant proportion of shoppers are either nonplussed about greenwashing or are forgiving of those retailers that make false sustainability claims.
The report found that 15% of consumers would not stop shopping with a retailer if it didn’t live up to its sustainability claims, while 50% said they would be willing to go back to one that had been called out for greenwashing – provided they took positive and public action to change.
So questions remain over whether the public requires greater education about green issues and how the government, retailers, media outlets and influencers can go about achieving this.
The rising cost of goods and inflationary pressures could well mean that consumers’ priorities have also changed, leading them to focus on value over sustainability credentials.
The report found that the majority of consumers do not want to have to pay a premium for sustainability, a finding echoed by campaigner and policy researcher Kelsea Delatango who, tweeting in response to the report, said: “If affordability isn’t in the discourse then a brand isn’t sustainable.”
Are consumers misinformed about sustainability?
Supply chain researcher Robert Suurmond said the report findings showed “consumers don’t know enough about sustainable brands”.
Indeed, 35% of the UK consumers surveyed said they couldn’t think or didn’t know of any retailer that was the most sustainable.
The reasons given by consumers for naming retailers among their top five included – but were not limited to – the following.
Primark
The value fashion retailer was named because of “its use of paper bags”, the fact it “has clothing containing recycled plastic” and because it is making efforts “to become greener”. Primark has pivoted its sustainability strategy since the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, partnering with organisations such as circular-economy charity the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to support its circular economy ambitions, and is focused on using more sustainably sourced materials.
“Believing only small companies have the answers and can make all the change that is necessary is not helpful – it is stifling meaningful action, collaboration and progress”
However, the praise for Primark’s paper bags does throw up an issue. In Green is the New Black, we explore research that suggests paper bags tend to have a higher carbon footprint. A UK Environment Agency study uncovered that paper-bag production requires more raw materials and energy and produces more waste than the equivalent process for plastic bags. It stated that a paper bag must be used at least three times to decrease its impact on the environment to match that of a plastic bag used just once.
What Primark has to say
Lynne Walker, director of the retailer’s sustainable clothing range Primark Cares, says: “We are making fundamental changes to our business and our scale means these changes can make a big difference. We understand there is a desire to push major retailers to go further. Yet believing only small companies have the answers and can make all the change that is necessary is not helpful – it is stifling meaningful action, collaboration and progress.
“We believe sustainability is essential for all, and that means businesses of every size need to be part of the solution. We will transparently report on our progress against our commitments annually and will continue to push ourselves to go further and be open and honest about the challenges we face.”
Amazon
Amazon was named because “it has sustainable policies”, “it seems to be trying” to be more sustainable and “because I’ve seen their adverts on going all-electric with their delivery vans”. These comments are vague so it could be argued that consumers don’t know what Amazon’s sustainability policies are, but the “seems to be trying” comment could reflect the increased transparency it is showing by, for example, allowing tours of its facilities to see how its warehouses function. It could also reflect Amazon’s turnaround from June 2021 when it was found to be destroying millions of unsold items at its UK warehouse.
The big move by Amazon on sustainability is The Climate Pledge – a commitment to be net-zero carbon across its business by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement, which it co-founded back in 2019. It continues to encourage other businesses to sign the same pledge.
“Customers will see more zero-emissions vehicles hitting the roads as Amazon continues to expand its fleet”
Amazon is introducing electric HGVs in the UK
Amazon is introducing electric HGVs in the UK
What Amazon has to say
Speaking to Retail Week, Amazon highlighted its sustainability efforts across shipping, packaging, transportation, deliveries and its wider investments. These included, but were not limited to, the following:
- “On product waste, Amazon is committed to minimising waste and helping our customers to reuse, repair and recycle their products. We provide a range of options through the Amazon Second Chance website and customers can recycle electronics through pre-paid postal return and home-collection services on our Amazon Recycling website.
- “We are working to make shopping for sustainable items easier for customers – including the launch of Climate Pledge Friendly, which we launched one year ago. Our customers can find the Climate Pledge Friendly badge on more than 100,000 products in Europe to signify that the products have one or more of 30 different sustainability certifications.
- “Earlier this month we launched Amazon Aware – thoughtfully designed ranges made from materials such as recycled polyester, organic cotton and bio-based ingredients.
- “We are the UK’s, Europe’s and the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy. Our first renewable-energy project in Scotland is now operational in Kintyre and delivering clean energy to the UK grid – enough to power 46,000 homes. Our newest project in the UK is a 350MW wind farm in Moray West, Scotland. It is also Amazon’s largest project of its kind in this country; in fact, it’s the largest corporate renewable energy deal announced by any company in the UK to date.
- “Amazon has helped mobilise $1bn to protect rainforests worldwide. The effort is made possible through the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition. LEAF is an ambitious public-private initiative designed to help protect tropical forests – which benefit billions of people around the world – and to support sustainable development.
- “We’ve helped to launch Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV), a new collaborative, cargo owner-led network facilitated by the Aspen Institute, including Brooks, Frog Bikes, Ikea, Inditex, Michelin, Patagonia, Tchibo and Unilever in a first-of-its-kind target to progressively switch all ocean freight to vessels powered by zero-carbon fuels by 2040.
- “On transportation, we recently announced five electric heavy goods vehicles in our delivery fleet for the first time in the UK. The 37-tonne fully electric vehicles are now operating from Amazon’s fulfilment centres in Tilbury and Milton Keynes, transporting customer packages with zero tailpipe emissions and using battery power.
- “We have more than 1,000 Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles making deliveries across the UK, a fleet that’s growing all the time. Last year, Amazon delivered more than 45 million packages in the UK by more sustainable transportation methods, such as electric vans or cargo bikes. Customers will see more zero-emissions vehicles hitting the roads as Amazon continues to expand its fleet.”
H&M
The fashion retailer was selected because of its “eco range”, “sustainable clothing” and “using organic and recycled cotton”. H&M has been trialling a clothing-to-clothing recycling scheme in its home country of Sweden and offers clothing take-back schemes in its stores globally.
However, the comment about organic and recycled cotton feeds into a common sustainability myth, which is also explored in the report. Brooke Roberts-Islam, a fashion and materials writer, explains: “The most commonly held beliefs about the environmental impacts of cotton are false or misleading.”
Citing 2021 research by the Transformers Foundation, a representative group of the denim industry, Roberts-Islam says that binary statements – such as that organic cotton is more eco-friendly than traditional cotton, owing to higher levels of water used in the production of the latter – do not hold up.
H&M has been trialling a clothing-to-clothing recycling scheme
H&M has been trialling a clothing-to-clothing recycling scheme
What H&M has to say
An H&M spokesperson says: “We are happy to see that our industry-leading sustainability efforts and goals are being recognised by our UK customers, and having our customers on board is essential. We recognise that we have a responsibility to lead the change towards a more sustainable fashion industry and communicate transparently about what we are doing to make our business more sustainable.
“For us, transparency is key when it comes to creating accountability for the goals and commitments we set ourselves”
“Greenwashing is broadly defined as the spreading of misinformation by a company to make themselves appear more sustainable – this is the opposite of what we do at H&M. For us, transparency is key when it comes to creating accountability for the goals and commitments we set ourselves. Our preferred materials that fall into the higher categories need to be certified by credible third parties. For materials where no third-party certifications exist, we establish alternative schemes to ensure responsible sourcing.
“This is not new to us – we have been working with a sustainability strategy for over 25 years. For us, sustainability is not an add-on; it’s central to everything we do.”
Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer was named because “they always appear to do the right thing”, “they have clear [sustainability] targets, which they display” and “they publicise everything they are doing”.
M&S went big on sustainability as far back as 2007 with the launch of its Plan A initiative, which was a list of sustainability-related commitments to achieve in five years. This was at a time when sustainability strategy in retail tended to be nothing more than a footnote in corporate social responsibility statements. M&S also lays claim to being the first major retailer in the UK and Ireland to achieve carbon-neutral status, in 2012.
M&S launched its Plan A sustainability initiative in 2007
M&S launched its Plan A sustainability initiative in 2007
What M&S has to say
An M&S spokesperson says: “Last September, we reset our longstanding Plan A strategy, committing to reduce our carbon footprint by a third by 2025, become fully net-zero by 2040 and help our customers enjoy lower-carbon lives.
“We’re doing this by offering rewards to our more than 15 million Sparks customers and working with our longstanding suppliers to find new ways of doing things more sustainably.
“We know that net-zero isn’t easy, which is why we are committed to transforming how we make, move and sell our products”
“We know that net-zero isn’t easy, which is why we are committed to transforming how we make, move and sell our products and working with our customers, colleagues, suppliers and the industry to change the future shape of our business.”
Nike has been putting sustainability issues high up its priority list
Nike has been putting sustainability issues high up its priority list
Nike
The sports titan was named because it “reuses plastic”, “they say they reuse all their materials” and “they offer long-lasting products”. In addition to producing more products with at least 20% recycled material in them, which are listed quite prominently on its website, Nike has been putting sustainability issues high up its priority list in terms of operational behaviours.
In an extensive January 2022 update on how it is revamping its supply chain, Nike dedicated a lot of space to sustainability policy. It spoke of “ground-only shipping” across the US to provide a less carbon-intensive option than air-freight shipping, as well as its Nike Refurbished initiative, which involves the brand repairing some returned or used products by hand before selling them in Nike Factory, Nike Unite and Nike Community stores.
Nike has been approached for a comment.
Most of the reasons given by consumers for all five retailers relate to demonstrable work that can be seen or engaged with in store and relates to those efforts being advertised and marketed.
It is also true that retailers such as Amazon have been investing heavily in sustainability – just last week, the business announced it would stop packaging products in single-use plastic bags.
However, the research does not mean that Amazon or the other four retailers named are the most sustainable.
The report recognises the work of a number of retailers and organisations driving ESG agendas, including B Corp-certified Patagonia and Vestiaire, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, independent advisory authority the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, circular fashion technology group Infinited Fiber and more, with many insights for retailers to draw on.
The final word
What the social media discourse about the report shows is that multiple statements can be true simultaneously. Namely, that:
- Consumers don’t know enough about sustainability
- Retailers such as Primark and Amazon are taking steps to become more sustainable
- Greenwashing isn’t necessarily concerning to all consumers and is something a large number are willing to look past – but this doesn’t mean that retailers should make false sustainability claims
- As responsible companies, retailers should continue to do more to lead the conversation and enact change faster to ‘do good’ and become more sustainable
- Consumers do care about sustainability, but affordability is a key concern.
Access Green is the New Black for free here to get closer to what consumers really think about sustainability right now and what that means for your business. Discover:
- How to take action to become a more sustainable brand with Retail Week’s ACTION pledge
- What retailers like yours can do to make the economics of sustainability stack up
- Why and how sustainability is increasingly becoming a top priority for policy-makers and investment houses
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