Companies guilty

A number of renowned brands have been found to be practicing greenwashing. One example is the Fiji Water Company LLC which has been slapped with a number of lawsuits from customer protection organizations due to the use of greenwashing tactics. The company has been accused of misrepresentation of its bottled water as being environmentally superior to other brands. A scrutiny of the company revealed that their products were labeled as being sustainable while the business processes were largely unsustainable. Some of the business practices that Fiji engaged in including distribution, packaging, and manufacturing contributed to billions of greenhouse gases per year.

L’Oréal is another company that has been found guilty of using greenwashing practices. For the longest time, L’Oréal branded itself as a sustainable company retailing sustainable products and using sustainable manufacturing practices. However, these claims are wrong following a review which revealed that some of the product components at L’Oréal were not sustainable. Some of these ingredients were confirmed to have a negative influence on the body. An example is where L’Oréal uses microbeads in cosmetics despite it being banned in many countries. Microbeads have been banned because they comprise solid particles which are harmful to aquatic life by contributing to their death and extinction. This is a well-known fact but the company still uses it as a key component in soaps and cosmetics products.  L’Oréal has also been dismissing the rule to implement policies that stop them from using components with toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process such as phthalates and triclosan. Finally, L’Oréal lipsticks were also found to have a lead which is a highly toxic chemical to human life. Therefore, this substantiates the claims that indeed, L’Oréal has been practicing greenwashing in their marketing messages which have been misleading customers.

L’Oréal has also been practicing deforestation in its supply chain. This is seen from the continuous use of palm oil despite the pledges made to be 100% sustainable and using the same tagline in their marketing campaigns. L'Oreal also engaged in the mining of Mica which is used in makeup. While the product itself is not harmful, the process of production has been unsustainable. This is because the company has been using child labor to mine for this product in India. These claims water down the fact that L’Oréal claims to be sustainable. It asserts that the company has applied to greenwash in its supply chain.

General Electric has been in the spotlight for greenwashing following the "Eco-imagination" campaign. This campaign painted the image of the company as one that is environmentally friendly. This is a case of false claims such as the LG Electronics is-certified Energy Star refrigerators. However, a number of these fridges did not meet the efficiency standards required to earn the certification.