greenwashing

nounC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — green sits at #547Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Greenwashing is claiming to be kinder to the planet than you are. Accused of greenwashing.

The tell is spending more on the claim than on the change, which is measurable. Greenwashing is now regulated as a form of misleading advertising in several countries.

Definitions of greenwashing

1noungreenwashingClaiming to be kinder to the planet than you are.C1
“The whole campaign was greenwashing and the regulator said so.”

greenwashing is a practice.

Where it comes from

A blend of green and whitewashing, coined in the 1980s.

Proto-Indo-European
*gʰreh₁-
Middle English
grene
English
green
English, today
greenwashing

green and whitewashing (or green + wash + ing). green comes from Middle English grene. From Middle English grene, from Old English grēne, from Proto-West Germanic grōnī, from Proto-Germanic grōniz, from Proto-Indo-European gʰreh₁- (“to grow”). More at grow. a doublet of Gruen. See also frr green, West Frisian grien, Dutch groen, Low German grön, green, greun, German grün, Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk grøn, Swedish grön, Norwegian Bokmål grønn, Faroese grønur, Icelandic grænn.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Marketing & Advertising

Practise this word

greenwashing in the wild

Companies that intentionally adopt greenwashing communication strategies often do so to distance themselves from their environmental lapses or those of their suppliers.
Greenwashing
Firms engage in greenwashing for two primary reasons: to appear legitimate and to project an image of environmental responsibility or broader sustainability to the wider public.
Greenwashing
The organization's narrow focus on littering and recycling has been criticized as greenwashing in that it diverts responsibility away from corporations and industries.
Keep America Beautiful
Over 400,000 customers have opted in to EnergyAustralia's "carbon neutral" product, offered at no additional cost, however this product has led to legal accusations of "greenwashing".
EnergyAustralia
Green companies and businesses that partake in sustainable practices often receive criticism and face scrutiny for being accused of greenwashing and manipulative marketing.
Green company

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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