What is Greenwashing?
Sustainability has become a priority across supply chains, manufacturing floors, and procurement teams. That is a good thing. But as demand for greener practices has grown, so has a more troubling trend: greenwashing.
Greenwashing happens when a product, service, or company is marketed as environmentally friendly without delivering meaningful environmental benefits. In practical terms, it uses sustainability language to suggest progress without addressing the underlying systems that drive waste.
This often shows up as vague claims, selective storytelling, or highlighting one small improvement while ignoring larger environmental consequences. The result is a market full of “green” messaging that can mislead businesses and consumers into believing they are making responsible choices, even as disposable, inefficient practices continue unchanged.
How It Hurts the Industry
Greenwashing does more than confuse consumers. It actively slows progress in sustainability across industries. When companies rely on misleading environmental claims, real issues remain unaddressed. Single-use products continue to flow through supply chains. Waste continues to pile up. Materials that could be reused or repaired are still thrown away too soon.
Greenwashing also makes it harder for genuinely sustainable solutions to stand out. When everything is “eco-friendly,” it becomes difficult for decision-makers to distinguish meaningful impact from marketing language. Over time, this weakens confidence in sustainability efforts and makes teams less likely to push for better options.
Instead of advancing the industry, greenwashing keeps ineffective practices in place.
When “Green” Claims Do Not Match Reality
Greenwashing in practice is rarely obvious. In practice, it often looks reasonable, well-intentioned, and easy to justify.
- Vague or undefined claims: Products labeled as “green,” “eco-friendly,” or “sustainable” without explaining what those terms mean. In real-world supply chains, this often looks like packaging marketed as sustainable with no data on durability, reuse, or end-of-life handling.
- Hidden trade-offs: Products that highlight recycled content or reduced packaging while remaining single-use. For example, disposable containers promoted as sustainable because they include recycled material still generate waste after one cycle.
- Irrelevant claims: Environmental benefits that sound meaningful but do not change outcomes, such as labeling a product recyclable when no practical recycling infrastructure exists.
- Visual greenwashing: Using colors, imagery, or symbols associated with sustainability to imply environmental benefit without operational follow-through. These cues can be especially persuasive when teams are under pressure to make quick decisions.
Together, these tactics create the illusion of progress while allowing inefficient, waste-heavy systems to continue. Recognizing these types of greenwashing will help businesses move past marketing language and focus on solutions that deliver measurable impact.
Is Greenwashing Illegal?
In some cases, greenwashing can cross legal lines, particularly when claims are deceptive or misleading under consumer protection laws. Regulatory agencies are increasingly scrutinizing environmental claims, and enforcement is increasing in certain regions.
However, many greenwashing practices exist in a gray area. Claims may be technically true but strategically incomplete, allowing companies to avoid accountability while still benefiting from sustainability messaging. This makes it even more important for businesses to evaluate sustainability claims carefully, rather than relying on labels alone.
How to Avoid Greenwashing in Your Own Operations
Avoiding greenwashing starts with asking better questions. Instead of asking whether a product is sustainable, ask how it actively reduces waste over time. Look at lifecycle impact rather than single attributes. Consider whether materials can be reused, repaired, or recycled in practice, not just in theory.
True sustainability shows up in systems, not slogans. It is reflected in durability, repeat use, repairability, and material reuse and recovery. When teams focus on long-term performance instead of short-term optics, they move closer to meaningful environmental progress.
Greenwashing often focuses on appearances. Real sustainability focuses on outcomes.
Many organizations genuinely want to make better choices but are forced to navigate a marketplace full of incomplete or misleading claims. When sustainability is treated as a marketing exercise, progress stalls. When it is treated as an operational commitment, real change becomes possible.
At Extera, we believe sustainability should be practical, transparent, and measurable. Our focus on reusable containers, repair programs, and a circular economy is rooted in doing the work that delivers real impact. As the industry continues to navigate environmental expectations, honesty matters more than ever. Cutting through greenwashing creates space for solutions that move the industry forward.
