What Is Greenwashing And Why Is Coca-Cola Being Accused Of Doing It?
It's becoming a fairly common practice among major corporations.
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Subscribe for free to get more stories like this directly to your inboxCorporations of all types want consumers to see them as environmental advocates while doing as little actual advocacy as possible. This has led to the coining of a term — “greenwashing” — to describe a range of tactics commonly used by businesses to give the public a misleading representation of its eco-friendly policies.
Coca-Cola faces allegations
One of the most notable recent cases involving accusations of greenwashing involves Coca-Cola, which apparently erased an entire pledge to replace 25% of its packaging with reusable materials by 2030.
The company has addressed its plans for the future, but without referencing the discrepancy involving that previous goal. Now, the company is making plans for 2035 and emphasizes ways to “improve water security in high-risk locations, reduce packaging waste, and decrease emissions.”
Of course, the fact that Coca-Cola’s previous goal has now apparently been scrapped, the company might have trouble convincing consumers to buy into its new proposal.
Perhaps it’s better than nothing
While we should reserve judgment where Coca-Cola is involved — after all, we’ve still got six years until the goal is supposed to be reached anyway — but there’s no denying that many companies give into the temptation of greenwashing.
But with increased transparency and scrutiny, many of those cases are being exposed and the responsible parties often see their reputations tarnished. Meanwhile, however, many other good-guy companies are standing out for their legitimate efforts to reduce waste and pollutants.
Coca-Cola issues a response
Amid the recent backlash, Coca-Cola executive Bea Perez offered a prepared statement: “We remain committed to building long-term business resilience and earning our social license to operate through our evolved voluntary environment goals. These challenges are complex and require us to drive more effective and efficient resource allocation and work collaboratively with partners to deliver lasting positive impact.”
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