Key vocabulary

• Greenwashing — marketing that makes companies look more climate-friendly than they really are.
• Pinkwashing — when brands officially promote themselves as an LGBTQ+ ally, but act differently in practice or don't support the LGBTQ+ community at all.
• Reading upstream — going right to the original source of information to verify it.
• Lateral reading — finding another credible source that backs up the original source’s claim.

Materials

• Lesson outline
• Student handout
• Projector, computers, and Internet connection
• Optional : Lesson background reading and sources
  • Forbes: H&M case shows how greenwashing breaks brand promise
  • BBC: Climate change: Seven ways to spot business greenwashing
  • Vogue Business: Fast fashion enters the resale game, but don’t call it sustainability
  • PBS NewsHour: Gap between pledges and action sparks criticism at COP27 climate summit

WARM-UP ACTIVITY  (5 minutes)

List two claims this ad communicates about the product and company (answers are in italics throughout this version of the lesson):

1. The beverage is healthy and good for you .

2. The company is eco-friendly .

What evidence would you need to prove the claims?

1. Nutritional information. “This new soft drink is 6.6 percent sugar, compared to the 10.6 percent in full-sugar coke, but this doesn't make it healthy, according to the Cancer Council Australia public health expert Craig Sinclair .”

2. Information about their product packaging. The company creates a lot of plastic pollution .

EXPLANATION OF CONTENT (15 minutes)

Explain that the advertisement is an example of corporate "greenwashing" and that to become an informed media consumer, you will learn how to recognize the practice and why companies engage in it. Share that a Harris Poll found that 72% of CEOs felt that their company has engaged in greenwashing, so it is common.

Review the vocabulary :

1. Greenwashing — marketing that makes companies look more climate-friendly than they really are
2. Pinkwashing — when brands officially promote themselves as an LGBTQ+ ally, but act differently in practice or don't support the LGBTQ+ community at all
3. Reading upstream — going right to original source of information to verify it
4. Lateral reading — finding another credible source that backs up the manufacturer’s claims

Students will watch a student-produced video that fact-checks a claim that the H&M clothing brand has practiced "greenwashing." Here is an image of the tweet that is fact-checked :

MAIN ACTIVITY

Answer the questions while watching the Teen Fact-Checking Network's (TFCN) video What is Greenwashing? | Is This Legit? . Watch it all the way through once first, then pause the video if needed after watching it to answer the questions.

1. List two reasons companies engage in “greenwashing.” (1) Make money from climate-conscious consumers . (2) Make themselves look good .
2. Summarize how clothing company H&M practiced “greenwashing” with specific details. H&M claimed that they used 30% less water to make their products when actually they used 30% more .
3. List some other popular clothing brands that have practiced “greenwashing”? Z ara, Pretty Little Thing and Shein .
4. What is the best fact-checking strategy to detect “greenwashing”? Lateral reading .

Work through the seven ways to spot business greenwashing as a class, or ask students to read the article and answer the questions individually or in small groups before discussing them.

The video references the BBC article Climate change: Seven ways to spot business greenwashing . List the examples provided for each one of these red flags or summarize how companies falsely claim to be environmentally friendly in that manner.

1. Look for false claims or vague language
   1. RyanAir claimed it was Europe’s airline with the lowest emissions without evidence .
   2. Hyundai claimed its cars clean the air .
2. Spot images of nature or green “buzzwords.”
   1. Amazing Cleaners claimed to be 100% eco-friendly without evidence .
   2. Alpro Almond milk claims it is “good for the planet” not clear enough .
   3. Edward Bulmer Paint claimed its paint “as the most eco-friendly paint on the planet” without evidence .
   4. Bottled water companies like Evian and Deer Park have images of nature on their bottles even though those bottles pollute the environment .
3. Search for hidden information.
   1. Fashion brands claim a clothing line uses “sustainable fabrics” even if the rest of their clothing lines are damaging to the environment .
   2. Shell (2007) claimed it used carbon dioxide waste to grow plants but was a small fraction of its emissions .
4. Look out for carbon offsetting.
   1. Govt. businesses or individuals balance their own emissions by finding other ways to remove carbon emissions, often funding projects outside of their business which is done by Disney to Google.
   2. They continue to emit the same amount of carbon .
5. Check company ownership.
   1. A large company will buy a smaller environmentally-friendly company to attract climate-conscious customers .
   2. This will be one of the application examples: Innocent fruit drinks had their commercials about saving the earth banned because their parent company Coke is one of the biggest sources of plastics pollution .
6. Look for eco-friendly products in a wider range. Similar to #3, hidden information .
7. Is the product and its packaging recyclable?
   1. In 2018, McDonald’s said it would replace single-use straws with paper straws, but they were not recyclable .
   2. Ancol Pet Products said its products were biodegradable but they do not biodegrade in landfills or incinerators .
   3. One of the application studies is Keurig who promoted a way to recycle their cups that were not actually recyclable .

ASSESSMENT (10 – 15 minutes)

Answer the following questions :

1. Review the Coca-Cola ad from the beginning of this lesson. What type(s) of “greenwashing” did the company use in that ad? Explain. False claims or vague language; images of nature and buzz words; hidden information; the placement in nature and green color suggests it is healthy, but it is not. Also the company is one of the biggest producers of disposable plastic bottles.
2. Which type of “greenwashing” did H&M use? False claims or vague language
3. How is “greenwashing” similar to “pinkwashing”? Company misleading its customers
4. How is “greenwashing'' different from “pinkwashing”? Climate versus LGBTQ+ issues
5. Why is it important for customers to know how to detect “greenwashing”? Companies are misleading their customers who will pay for something that is not actually being provided. Companies actually benefit financially while still using environmentally harmful products and business practices.

The final question could be a "Ticket Out of The Door"

Should “greenwashing” be illegal, or is it just unethical? Why? Answers vary

Extension activity

You will be assigned a claim of “greenwashing” as compiled by Akepa's The Sustainable Legacy , a digital marketing agency, to research and report on to the class. Answer the following questions about the case.

1. Summarize how the company engaged in “greenwashing” in a paragraph (approx. five sentences).
   
2. List the type(s) of “greenwashing” this represents and explain why in a full sentence.
   

Work on one example as a class or assign different examples to small groups to research and report on. Students should summarize the situation and make a determination as to which type(s) of greenwashing were being implemented by the business. Give each group or student the first three facts to start them off but not the type of greenwashing.

1. Shell’s climate poll on Twitter

• Year: 2020
• Who reported it: Twitter users ( The Guardian )
• Where: worldwide
• Type of Greenwashing: Hidden information
  

2. Keurig

• Year: 2022
• Who reported it: The Competition Bureau ( CBC )
• Where: Canada
• Type of Greenwashing: Misleading recycling claims/False claims or vague language

3. IKEA

• Year: 2020
• Who reported it: Earthsight
• Where: Europe/Ukraine
• Type of Greenwashing: False claims or vague language

4. Hefty

• Year: 2021
• Who reported it: Lisabeth Holscomb ( Resource Recycling ) and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong ( Associated Press )
• Where: USA
• Type of Greenwashing: False claims or vague language/Hidden information

5. KLM

• Year: 2021-22
• Who reported it: Fossielvrij NL ( BBC )
• Where: Netherlands
• Type of Greenwashing: Carbon offsetting

6. Innocent

• Year: 2022
• Who reported it: Plastic Rebellion ( The Guardian )
• Where: UK
• Type of Greenwashing: TV advertisements/Images of nature or Green buzzwords

7. Unilever — Persil cleaning agent

• Year: 2022
• Who reported it: Adviser Standards Authority ( AdWeek )
• Where: UK
• Type of Greenwashing: False claims or vague language

Additional media literacy resources

• MediaWise “Is This Legit?” series
• Fact-Checking for Beginners (Storymaker)
• Misinformation Overload Interviews from PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs
• StoryMaker Media Literacy Learning
• Lesson plan: Build a 'media literacy survival kit' by PBS NewsHour Classroom

These lessons were developed by PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs in partnership with MediaWise and the Teen Fact-Checking Network, which are part of the Poynter Institute. This partnership has been made possible with support from Google.