Shout sustainability from the rooftops or keep mum?
The first green neologism I have come across in 2014 is ‘green hush’. If greenwash is exaggerating environmental performance then green hush is playing it down. The consensus of opinion seems to be that it is A BAD THING.
Is it, really?
For a start, many organisations that have a good sustainability record and did publicise it have come under attack from the green movement for not being perfect. Who decides how green green is?
Secondly, what was seen as green a decade ago – ISO14001, office paper recycling, energy efficient lighting, building management systems, IT virtualisation, digitisation – are now seen as the new normal. This is obviously a good thing, but it creates the risk that you could find yourself being accused of greenwash for not keeping your marketing material right up to date.
And lastly, at the end of the day what matters is a smaller footprint, not the distracting debate that swirls around it.
That said, there is an argument that good communication of environmental performance helps raise the bar across business – and there are PR benefits for individual companies if the greenwash bear traps can be avoided. What is important is HOW the message is communicated – making it compelling, robust and in context. And that’s quite a challenge.