By: Morgane Nzelemona, Account Management Specialist at the Alliance for Responsible Mining
Now that we are fully aware of the consumer society’s environmental and social consequences and therefore eager to get fair and eco-friendly products, more and more brands compete to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability. Companies’ stakeholders increasingly demand more transparency and actions concerning their supply chains and practices. Consequently, a growing number of brands invest in sustainability programs and try to look as “green”, “fair” and “ethical” as possible.
This trend has generated positive changes in some economic sectors, but also it has contributed to the emergence of practices such as “greenwashing” and “fair washing”. The concept of greenwashing was introduced in the 80s by environmentalist Jay Westerveld to denounce the manipulative claims used by companies to improve their image. Greenwashing consists of convincing customers that a company is making positive environmental choices. It often requires the use of eco-conscious language to convince the public that a company’s products, aims, practices, and policies are environmentally friendly. “Fair washing” practices, by extension, present these choices as “ethical” or “socially fair” when they are not.
Even if these practices might be unintentional in some cases, it still harms the efforts of companies that actually work to develop real sustainable models and misleads consumers trying to do the right thing.
In this blog series, we will explore why brands should be as transparent as possible, and how to make transparent claims about the use of Fairmined metals.
Go to the first blog: Why you should be as transparent as possible?
Go to the second blog: Five tips to make transparent claims about your gold sourcing
