The Solution to Greenwashing
Have you ever heard of the term ‘Greenwashing’?
Greenwashing is a form of marketing spin that where green marketing is deceptively used to manipulate consumers into thinking that a particular organisation or business is environmentally friendly even if it is not.
This phenomenon is becoming more common with the rise in consumer demand for environmentally-sustainable products. In Asia, the sustainability industry is worth over US$5 trillion. Companies that engage in such practices often spend more time and resources marketing themselves as being ‘Green’ compared to actually carrying out environmentally sound practices.
One egregious example of greenwashing is the recent case of Starbucks:
However, ditching these plastic straws actually increases Starbucks’s plastic consumption. It appears that the new nitro lids that are used to replace straws uses more plastic by weight than the traditional lid and straw. In this case, going strawless by Starbucks is actually a greenwashing practice to buy some goodwill from environmentally-conscious consumers.
The Starbucks case is just one of the many examples of greenwashing today. So how can we prevent this bad practice from misleading consumers? The solution is Greenlink — A blockchain-based protocol and ecosystem that aims to provide a transparent and sustainable supply chain. There are three key aspects of Greenlink that prevents greenwashing.
Firstly, using digital certificates, consumers are able to trace the journey of each and every product through the supply chain, right from where the food is being grown. For instance, you are able to check the temperature that the food was grown at and even trace the countries from which the food has been shipped from.
Secondly, Greenlink integrates with reputable eco-certification bodies such as the FairTrade Foundation to accredit merchants with digital certificates certifying that they have met strict sustainable criteria. Each one of these digital certificates contains the eco-certification bodies’ authorization through a cryptographic signing on Greenlink’s ecosystem.
Anyone has the ability to verify the authenticity of a certificate by using the organization’s public key to verify its digital signature. This lends legitimacy and credibility to companies on the platform through the backing of these reputable organizations.
Lastly, Greenlink contains a social ledger program that rewards consumers for environmentally-sustainable actions with their IMPACT tokens. Businesses can record consumers’ sustainable actions such as bringing their own reusable bag on the blockchain.
To conclude, it is undeniable that Greenlink can help to stop the deceptive practice of greenwashing. Powered by the blockchain, Greenlink provides a new level of transparency in the entire supply chain, right down to where each product originates from. Based on this information, environmentally-friendly consumers are able to make a more informed choice and prevent themselves from being manipulated by deceptive marketing. Doesn’t that sound great!
