Greenhushing is the exact opposite of greenwashing: companies, precisely for fear of being accused of lying about the sustainable advertising of their products and services, simply avoid talking about it. Sustainability communication thus suffers a bad setback: the consequences are truly devastating, because a vicious circle is created according to which we no longer talk about green practices, which could also be a source of inspiration for other companies and for consumers themselves.
We all know what the greenwashingbut few know what the other side of the coin is, the opposite phenomenon. We are talking about the greenhushinga trend that is affecting more and more companies. A phenomenon that is taking on truly worrying contours, in a period in which sustainability and its communication must be at the centre of the operations of every social reality, including commercial ones. Let’s discover, then, what is greenhushing e what are the risks arising.
What is Greenhushing?
The term greenhushing derives from the English to hush, silenceand green, which means green, but which, in a broader sense, indicates ecological and sustainable attitudes. From their union it is clear that the English word literally means “silence sustainability“, which translated means not promoting good green practices implemented by companies. There are also those who call it green silence or eco-silence.
This is the corporate practice whereby a company does not communicate its sustainability actions and goals. The exact opposite of greenwashing, that is, the habit of some companies to promote as sustainable actions that are not at all, to “wash” their ecological conscience, doing nothing, however, to solve the environmental issue. Indeed, making it worse.
Why do companies do it?
It is natural to ask why a company should hide its sustainable and green side which, indeed, should be an additional value to communicate to consumers, who are increasingly attentive to ecological issues. The reluctance to do so comes precisely from fenomeno del greenwashing. Since the 1990s, many companies have presented products and services as environmentally friendly that were not. They have trumpeted their actions in favor of the environment, when, in reality, what they were doing was only deceiving consumers.
To prevent this phenomenon from spreading, stricter laws have been made around the world. For example, from January 1, 2023 in France, advertisers must also publish a report on greenhouse gas emissions in order to declare in an advertisement that a product or service is respectful of nature. Violators can be punished with fines of up to 100 thousand euros. The European Commission has also issued two directives: Empowering consumers for the green transitionapproved by the Parliament in January 2024 and awaiting the opinion of the Council, and Green claim directivestill under discussion in Parliament.
Companies, therefore, for fear of be accused of greenwashing and to avoid having to expose themselves too much, they simply avoid exposing themselves to people’s judgment and no longer declare the sustainable actions related to the products and services offered.
The risks of greenhushing
You might think that this practice has no consequences. Instead, not only does it have consequences, but they are extremely dangerous. It could create a vicious circle in which no company takes action to safeguard the environment, thus slowing down the improvement of the planet’s conditions. The Swiss consulting firm South Polewhich was the first to talk about greenhushing in its annual report On the road to net zero, said that all industrial sectors are involved.
1,400 companies were interviewed: 86% of those that sell consumer goods and 72% of oil companies said they had reduced their communication on sustainability. While 88% of companies that offer environmental services communicate less, even if they respect all the objectives set by law. Nadia KähkönenSouth Pole’s communications director, says: “By avoiding taking imperfect steps for fear of being criticized, there will be no progress. The negative impacts will be far-reaching, putting our planet in grave danger.“.
Source: www.greenstyle.it
