Rules, risk and compliance
Greenwashing is communication that credits a product or a company with environmental merits it does not have, or inflates a small merit until it looks like the rule.
It is the best-known form of washing, and the most regulated one: in Europe the directive on empowering consumers for the green transition (EU 2024/825) bans generic environmental claims that cannot be proven, such as «eco-friendly» or «sustainable» without recognised evidence. The word was coined in 1986 by the American environmentalist Jay Westerveld, struck by hotel signs asking guests to reuse towels ‘for the environment’ when the real aim was to save on laundry. The general mechanism, with its variants, is described under washing.
An example
A cosmetics brand writes «green» on the pack because it changed the colour of the cap, while formula and supply chain stay the same. The claim does not survive a check, and from then on even the brand's true claims are read with suspicion.
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