Greenwashing refers to false environmental protection, which is designed to appear to be an effort to protect the environment, but in reality is only an image project with no real environmental action. It is an attempt to cover up the social and environmental damage it has caused and to use it as a gimmick to attract consumers.

“The ‘greenwashing’ is a result of the growing public awareness that around 66% of consumers are willing to pay for environmentally friendly products, even if they cost more than the average product of the same type. It is the development of environmentally friendly consumerism that has led many organisations to see the opportunity to make more profit under the banner of environmental protection.

An example: the “Return to the World” programme of Three and a Half Coffee encourages consumers to collect used coffee capsules with an environmentally friendly concept and appropriate discounts. On the contrary, consumers are rewarded for helping to recycle used capsules and ostensibly helping the environmental programme, but in reality, the brand does not use recycled materials in the design of its capsules. It simply played on the idea of environmental protection and the appropriate rewards to drive more consumers to buy the product.

Environmental concepts are heavily utilised as a branding tool in modern times.

Greenwashing / Dian Wang / Environmental Design: Materials, Ecologies, Futures (2022-2023)[SEM1] by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0