June 15, 2015
Earlier this month, Dix & Eaton’s concept of #greenblushingSM reached a bigger stage – as the theme of our presence at Sustainable Brands 2015 in San Diego. With hundreds of premier, environmentally and socially active brands in attendance, we expected to hear many success stories of how they have overcome the challenges of greenblushing while also guarding against the even more insidious greenwashing.
As you may recall, greenblushing is defined as “limited or no information disseminated by an organization so as to understate or ignore its commitment to and actions on environmental and social responsibility.” We were pleased to hear from many companies how they have used reporting, social media, public relations, advertising, community outreach, green product labeling and more to make sure their sustainability stories are being told.
Still, we were surprised how many organizations continue to wrestle with greenblushing challenges – and not just the mid-size, middle-market, Midwest companies that we see most often. When we asked people if they have ever understated what they’re doing in sustainability/CSR, their responses included “If you say no, you’re lying”; “We want to be experts eventually but we’re not now”; and “A lot of things are going on all over the company; we need to consolidate our stories.”
Dix & Eaton has been working with clients to address the perils of #greenblushing since 2010, and we’re not giving up. We believe identifying your sustainability communications sweet spot is the solution. Many of the attendees at Sustainable Brands will be redoubling their efforts, and you can too!
Give your sustainability efforts a wellness check by reviewing this list of greenblushing symptoms, and then let us know what you uncover. E-mail me or tweet me @ThreePs.
