how to avoid greeenwashing

GreenwashingHow to

avoidYour

Customers

A Guide to Marketing Your Restaurants “ECO-NOMICALLY”

By Jaimee EstrellerApril 27, 2009

Green-wash—verb: the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service

What isGREENWASHING?

Agenda

• The Call for Action in the Restaurant Industry

• The Effects from “Greenwashing” Claims

• The Steps to Marketing “Eco-nomically”

A Typical Restaurant’s Carbon Footprint

Call for Action | “Greenwashing” Effects| “Eco-nomic” Strategies

NEWMAN’S RESTAURANT

490 tons of carbon

dioxide per year

2,000,000 gallons of

water a year100,000 pounds of garbage per

year

What Restaurants Are Doing

Target Areas of Improvement in Marketing• Energy Reduction• Waste Management• Packaging Alternatives• Organic and Local Food Purchasing • Sustainable Interior Design and Construction


“Greenvertising” on the rise

2005 2006 2007 2008 20090%1%2%3%4%5%6%7%8%9%

10%

3.2%4.2%

2.0%

8.9%10.0%

Green Ads

Year

Perc

enta

ge o

f Gre

en A

dver

-tis

emen

ts

About a 7% in-crease since 2005


PREVALENCE of “Greenwashing”

“The Seven Sins of ‘Greenwashing’ Report” by Terra Choice illustrates that:

• 98% of green claims are "greenwashed“’• 77 % of Americans are actively seeking

information to verify green claims


Verification of green Claims By Consumers

Con-sumer

Reports30%

Certification Labels

28%

List of Ingredi-

ents26%

Product Packag-

ing11%

Company Advertising

5%

Consumer Reports

Certification Labels

List of Ingredients

Product Packaging

Company Advertising


Risks of “greenwashing”

Consumer’s trust will be misplaced in companies that do not deliver their environmental promises.

Illegitimate environmental claims will slow the spread of real environmental innovation in the marketplace.

Consumers will give up on marketers and manufacturers, and give up on the hope that their spending might be put to good use.

The sustainability movement will lose the power of the market to accelerate progress towards sustainability.


LOST

CONSUMERS=

ECO-NOMICALLY

UNSOUND

“ECO-NOMIC” Strategies To SUSTAIN Long-term Value

“ECO-NOMIC” Value

Gain Credibility

from Certifications

Make Sustainability

a Core Strategy

Do Green (vs. Go Green)


NEWMAN’S RESTAURANT

GREEN-

CERTIFIED

Current “Green” Restaurant Certifications


What we Have Learned from “Greenwashing”

• Green marketers and consumers are learning about “greenwashing” together

• The best way to avoid “greenwashing” is to be honest and transparent

• “Going green” provides beneficial cost-savings strategy, but must also be credible if used as a marketing point


“Sustainability in restaurants is huge to me professionally and personally. We can do more, and we will. The restaurant industry needs to lead—restaurants need to hop on board more than the marketing.”

- Ms. Dawn Sweeney, National Restaurant Association, President (May 2008)

AN Opportunity FOR A GreenER Future

QUESTIONS?

Sources

• http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/environment/2008-05-15-green-restaurants-eco-friendly_N.htm

• http://www.greenrestaurants.org/documents/GoingGreenerGuide.pdf• http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/04/03/study-consumers-lack-

trust-in-green-claims• http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/02/05/82-percent-of-

consumers-buy-green-despite-economy/• http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/03/06/consumer-survey-

growth-of-green-consumption-flounders/• http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/98-of-green-labeled-products-

are-actually-greenwashed.php

how to avoid greeenwashing

Business

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