Two Sides, the global initiative to promote the sustainability of print and paper, has reported a 70% success rate in persuading global organisations to remove misleading green claims from their communications as part of its worldwide anti-greenwash campaign.
377 of the world’s leading corporations, including banks, utilities, telecoms and insurance companies have been researched and checked by Two Sides, exposing 240 of those companies to be using misleading greenwash statements in their marketing and communications activities. To date, 168 of those offending companies have removed their misleading greenwash statements as a direct result of ongoing lobbying by the Two Sides initiative.
Says Martyn Eustace, Chairman of Two Sides, “We’re really pleased that the ongoing efforts and lobbying of Two Sides is having such a significant effect on some of the world’s largest and most influential organisations. But there is no room for complacency, and there is still a great deal of work to do tackle the remaining companies that continue to mislead their customers.”
Major global corporations are still using inaccurate and misleading environmental claims to encourage consumers to ‘go paperless’ and switch from paper-based to digital communication. This is despite legislation being introduced by the advertising standards authorities in many countries to protect the consumer from being misled.
“It’s extremely frustrating and unacceptable,” continues Eustace. “Marketers in some of the world’s most high profile corporations are resorting to unsubstantiated and misleading environmental claims to persuade consumers to switch from paper-based to cheaper electronic communication. Many consumers still have a strong preference for paper but they are being manipulated by a lack of clear and accurate information when in fact paper, based on a natural, renewable and recyclable resource, should be considered as a highly sustainable way to communicate.”
The worldwide Two Sides teams have maintained a ruthless determination to tackle greenwash in their respective countries with their ongoing activities paying dividends in the global anti-greenwash campaign.
more at: http://www.twosides.info/UK/Two-Sides-Global-Anti-Greenwash-Campaign