Which industry was the first to be accused of greenwashing?

Trivia 22 of 30

Which industry was the first to be accused of greenwashing?

First use

In 1986, Jay Westerveld came up with the term “greenwashing” after seeing a hotel sign that encouraged guests to reuse towels in order to “Save our planet.” Westerveld wrote an essay about his experience, where he explained that the hotel may have been keeping the money it saved on laundry costs instead of using it to support environmental programs. Essentially, the hotel was using the “Save our planet” message as a way to appear environmentally conscious while potentially profiting from their guests’ conservation efforts (Jay Rowding, University of Waterloo).

During the mid-1980s, the oil company Chevron created a series of TV and print ads to persuade the public that it was environmentally responsible. These ads subsequently gained notoriety among environmentalists, who consider them a prime example of greenwashing (theguardian.com).

With limited access to information outside of print, radio, and television, consumers were at the mercy of these questionable ad campaigns (choosefinch.com).

Whitewashing

The term “greenwashing” is derived from the term “whitewashing,” which refers to the deliberate attempt to conceal or downplay negative actions or events by presenting biased or incomplete information in order to improve one’s reputation. This may include rushed investigations that don’t reveal the complete scope of wrongdoing, or the deliberate omission of certain information in order to portray a person or group in a better way (wikipedia.org).

Painting with whitewash

Whitewashing, and its future cousin, greenwashing, comes from the practice of painting whitewash onto surfaces.

Kalsomine, or “whitewash,” is a type of paint made from a mixture of slaked lime, water, and some other ingredients. It was often associated with rural poverty, as it was an affordable paint option that would easily rub off on clothing if it was accidentally touched (wikipedia.org).