university student Jay Westerveld went on a research trip in which he spotted a misleading advertising message on the door of a hostel, telling customers to reuse towels, claiming that this would reduce the environmental impact. But the environmental reporter realised that the hostel complex was expanding by building more accommodation, regardless of the impact on the environment. The young Jay Westerveld concluded that it was all for commercial purposes only and labelled it ‘greenwashing’. In 1986, Jay Westervel wrote an article defining the term ‘greenwashing’, referring to the hostel that wanted to project a misleading environmental image. This article was published from New York, so it had a lot of repercussions and was soon in the media spotlight.10 One of the definitions that should be highlighted is the one introduced in the Oxford English Dictionary, defining it as: “The creation or propagation of an unfounded or misleading environmentalist image.”11 This definition can be completed with the one given by Greenpeace, which refers to both the external and internal image of a company, greenwashing being: ‘the act of misleading the consumer so that the perception of a company’s products and objectives is seen as environmentally friendly’.12 It is also timely to bring to the debate the report published in 2010 by Terra Choice, an environmental consultancy acquired by Underwriters Laboratories, entitled ‘The Sins of Greenwashing’. It listed ‘the 7 deadly sins of greenwashing’: 13 • The hidden dilemma: this occurs when a product is claimed to be sustainable by mentioning some of its attributes that contribute to it, but at the same time others that have a great impact on the environment are ignored. • Lack of evidence: when the attributes that give the product or service the ‘seal’ of sustainable and/or environmentally friendly are not certified by approved authorities. 10 Rojo, C. (2020). El lavado verde de imagen: historia del ‘greenwashing’. Eldiario.Es. https://www.eldiario.es/ ballenablanca/365_dias/lavado-verde-imagenhistoria-greenwashing_1_6169622.html 11 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/greenwashing_n?tab=meaning_and_use#11936536 12 Alejos Góngora, C. (2013). Greenwashing: ser verde o parecerlo. Cuaderno nº 21 de la Cátedra “la Caixa” de Responsabilidad Social de la Empresa y Gobierno Corporativo – IESE Business School, p. 8. http://www.iese.edu/ research/pdfs/ST-0328.pdf 13 Varela, J. (2018). El Greenwashing y sus 7 pecados capitales [Blog]. http://theorangemarket.com/greenwashing-sietepecados-capitales/ 623 GREENWASHING, LABELLING AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
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