Why planting a tree or two might not cut it — tips to avoid greenwashing in the Med Comms industry.
Picture a scene I’m sure you’re all too familiar with.
You’re working with an excited client organising a symposium. You’ve spent weeks — maybe months — getting materials ready and then the day comes. You, your colleagues, the client, and attendees are flown in from all corners of the globe and after a mere 20 minutes (or whole day if you’re lucky), it’s all over…
But what does that have to do with us and the environment, I hear you ask?
Well, you’d be correct to think that, from this scenario, we probably can’t control the location, number of flights, or personnel requirements; but what you might not have considered, though I’m sure you’ve all seen it, are the mountains of leaflets, booklets, cards, stands, and banners that are destined for the bin the minute the event ends.
A simple example perhaps, but one that is all too common in our industry and, importantly, there is a real irony of this whole situation as many companies with practices like this will publicly state their commitment to sustainability.
Irrespective of the source of the waste though, this stuff matters — the ONS published earlier this year that more than eight in ten people in the UK changed their lifestyle in some way to help tackle environmental issues, so isn’t it about time that we made meaningful changes to our practices too?
What is greenwashing and why is it so bad?
The term greenwashing was coined back in 1986 by the environmentalist Jay Westervelt. Although the practice stretches back to the 1960s, at its core it is the process by which a company conveys false or misleading information about how their services or products are environmentally friendly or claims they have a greater positive environmental impact than they actually do. In addition, it also can refer to the process by which a company over-emphasises sustainable aspects of their business to overshadow their involvement in environmentally damaging practices.
Aside from being disingenuous and morally questionable, the process of greenwashing can have some rather serious consequences. A recent study demonstrated that it hurts corporate reputation, through perceived environmental performance, and generally increases brand hate. Furthermore, with increasing levels of litigation being used to hold public bodies and corporate entities accountable for their environmental practices, it’s crucial that we convey any claims in an honest and transparent manner.
Shifting our goals.
“We’re planting trees, which, like our team, will grow and flourish” — sound familiar?
Now…obviously this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Like many, I love trees! I spent a lot of time in my youth climbing, and subsequently falling out of them — even my own website is alarmingly arboreal! My point though is that these communications, whilst sincere (and I’m sure do a lot of good), scratch the surface of what we can, and should, be doing in our industry.
The nature of our work in Med Comms, as a service industry, tends to mean we have a low environmental impact compared with other sectors. That’s not to say we’re beyond criticism though. If we take a long hard look in the mirror, it’s easy to identify common practices that we should be, and thankfully are in many cases, moving away from e.g. promoting excessive travelling and the unnecessary use of thousands of computers and mobile phones.
Now, the point of this post isn’t to shame Med Comms companies into increasing their green initiatives — far from it. Instead, I want to note the importance of communicating the claims of our clients and how becoming a partner in their sustainability goals is going to be key.
Why is this important and what should we do?
In case you missed it, there was some big news in EU pharma legislation earlier this year whereby it was implied that the EU may move to refuse authorisations for environmentally unfriendly medicines. Now, I’m no gambling man, but I would hazard a guess that we’re about to see an increase in green initiatives and communications from our pharma friends shortly. Whilst this undoubtedly adds an extra layer to our communications pieces, it provides us with an opportunity to initiate conversations about waste in the industry (see example at the start) and how we can transition to more digital pieces with real longevity.
When we engage with clients, it should be a partnership rather than a one-sided relationship. The whole reason that we exist as an industry is our expertise so, much like how we would critically assess data from clinical trials, we should be employing the same level of scrutiny for environmental claims. How you could do this would be an entire post itself, so instead I have compiled a quick checklist below for some considerations for environmental claims that I hope will be useful:
Are the claims clear and understandable? If your client has a specific claim to make about their product, be clear about it e.g. if they claim that a portion of their pipeline is from recycled materials or feeds back into communities, name them and give figures.
Are there data to support these claims? Critically assess and cite the data that support any claims the client wants to make.
Don’t compare apples to oranges. If your client wants to compare themselves to others in the industry for their ethical and environmental practices, ensure that it’s a like-for-like comparison.
Honesty is everything — accept that you’re unlikely to achieve perfection. Consumers don’t expect companies to be perfect. So, encourage clients to show that they’re aware of this and are doing what they can to address their practices. Being honest with figures is key because consumers aren’t blind to the data and certainly don’t appreciate being misled — that’s how you find yourself with lawsuits.
Be wary of buzzwords and green imagery. Before you go and slap a forest or mountain vista on your asset, ensure that it’s appropriate. Also be careful with the use of climate buzz words such as eco, environmentally friendly, ocean plastic, recycled, degradable, bio, sustainable, reusable, plant-based, carbon neutral, climate-friendly, net zero, green etc.
Be particularly wary of the word ‘sustainability’. Businesses portraying themselves as sustainable should be considering the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic). Quite often you’ll find that this is being applied to only environmental impact. If a business wants to build an ethical business model, it should be internalising it as part of its company mission and perhaps looking to get third-party accolades such as BCorp certification.
Stay current. Sustainability best practices and policies are constantly evolving, so ensure clients are prepared to adjust any claims as necessary.
Concluding remarks.
Forging a lasting partnership with clients should involve the development of a solid understanding of all aspects of the comms around their products and services. However, far from being complex and removed from the 'usual' data we deal with, sustainability pieces should be a natural extension of our relationship and help encourage ethical and transparent business practices. Who knows, we might also be able to apply some learnings to our own sector — but keep planting those trees in the meantime.