Greenwash

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹiːnwɒʃ/

Definitions

1. The act of falsely portraying a product or organization as eco-friendly, while concealing detrimental practices
2. A misleading tactic used by companies to suggest they are environmentally responsible, despite engaging in harmful behaviors
3. The practice of misleading consumers into believing a brand is environmentally friendly while it actually engages in environmentally harmful actions

Etymology: Jay Westerveld, an American environmentalist, coined "greenwash" in 1986, when he objected to a hotel in Fiji that asked guests to reuse their towels to "save the environment" while doing little else to reduce its impact. The hotel's notice was a feel-good gesture that polished its image, and Westerveld saw it as a cover for the business's real practices. The word blends "green", meaning environmentally friendly, with "whitewash", the older term for painting a wall white to hide its flaws and, figuratively, for concealing wrongdoing. Dictionaries also describe it as a blend of "green" and "-wash", which reflects the same pattern of covering something up. Used as a verb, "greenwash" means to falsely claim eco-friendliness, so a company that advertises a product as environmentally responsible without meeting that standard is said to be greenwashing it.

Synonyms: whitewash, sanitize, falsify