Avoiding The Greenwash: Best Green Practices for Small Businesses

The Social Media for Small Business series will be back next week. I’ve discovered a bunch of great social media tools and will need the time to properly review them all. Today, I wanted to take a detour and write about a topic that’s been on my mind lately.

Across national borders, and especially here on the West Coast, consumers are becoming increasingly savvy to the problems of greenwashing. I see this is a positive development – a step in the right direction towards global awareness. Instead of putting faith into a product’s appearance (and advertising spin), companies are starting to be held responsible for their commitment towards the environment. Where governments and bureaucracies have lagged in providing much in the way of environmental regulations, individual companies are creating their own standards of green corporate responsibility.

So how does a small business go about differentiating their image? How does one formulate business practices in an effort to avoid greenwashing? There are certainly many paths towards a greener corporate identity, and most are easily attainable by small businesses.

What Consumers Are Thinking

What is greenwashing? TerraChoice, which runs the Sins of Greenwashing website, defines it this way: “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.” They further divide it down the “sins” into seven distinct areas, most of which have to relate directly with product claims and marketing.

Green-minded consumers obviously want to know that their companies care about the products and services on offer. They are increasingly interested in the full disclosure. No longer is this limited to the ingredients which make up a product but, to a wider extent, the practices which constitute the company behind it. Interested in building up a good reputation and rapport with your clients? Regardless of the industry you’re in, having sustainable practices is no longer a ‘value-added’ bonus – it’s quickly becoming an important factor which can lead a consumer to consider one firm over another.

No Company Is Perfect: Green Knowledge Sharing

The green industry is certainly one of excitement and change – everyday, it seems, there are new discoveries about what is green, eco, and sustainable. With all of the new knowledge around us, it can be hard to keep up with the best practices. Rather than trying to develop green strategies internally, companies need to be open to sharing what they are doing on a corporate level. This is a reciprocal arrangement: companies are more likely to do business with ones that are alike in mentality. I see thrilling possibilities for future partnerships and mutual support; eventually, the creation of green business referral networks and resource pages.

Here are two good resources I use to monitor trends in greenwashing: The Guardian Greenwash Blog and The Greenwashing Index.

A New Way of Marketing

At Kiwano, we get asked this question very often: what makes “green” marketing green? With all the media mentions we’ve been blessed with lately (check out them out on Environmental Expert and The Green Pages), clients are starting to take note that Kiwano is a different breed of marketing firm.

At foundation of green marketing is a business which constantly evolves its strategies with the environment in mind. Green businesses take all the services of a traditional firm and find ways to implement them more sustainably. For example, many of Kiwano’s services are deliverable through the internet, and thus avoid printed materials altogether. Companies can also improve their green marketing programs by establishing a network of local and sustainable vendors which supply sustainable marketing materials, such as soy or vegetable ink, post-consumer and recycled paper, and innovative printing processes which reduce their carbon footprint.

Sofia and I both decided to create our own green marketing consulting business because we know there is room for improvement in the majority of office environments. You too can start leading by example and prove that ‘greening’ your business does not mean dampening the bottom line – your profit. With the growth of the conscious consumer, green marketing is the key to ensuring that your company remains competitive.

What are your company’s best green practices? Share them with us below and help create a better world, one small business at a time.