It can be easier to just start from scratch, which is why we’ve seen an explosion of sustainable startups like Nisolo, OrganicBasics and Girlfriend Collective and independent designers like Oak & Acorn who’ve built sustainability into their DNA. But it’s worth mentioning that small companies are capable of greenwashing, too. All of those ads I mentioned showing up in my Instagram feed are from small and medium-sized brands. Advertising attorney Randal Shaheen concurs that some start-ups are the worst offenders of greenwashing. “Your heart might be in the right place, but your advertising claims aren’t,” he says, as newer companies are less likely to understand federal guidelines that regulate green marketing claims and are also less likely to consult legal counsel before launching. “We’ll hear from them when they’ve gotten into trouble,” he says.
Given the myriad forces driving fashion’s greenwashing outbreak, can anything be done to cure it? Regulation is one obvious place to start. In Norway, for example, the government cracked down on H&M’s Conscious collection for underexplaining how its clothes are actually better for the environment. In the US, it’s the Federal Trade Commission’s duty to stop “deceptive and fraudulent” marketing, and the FTC’s Green Guides offer an exhaustive set of rules for how companies should approach making environmental claims in their advertising.
Every now and then, the FTC will enforce these rules. In 2013 and 2015, the FTC filed civil penalties against a number of major apparel retailers—including Amazon, Macy’s, and Sears – for mislabeling clothes as “bamboo” and describing them as environmentally friendly. Bamboo fabric is a type of viscose rayon or lyocell, made by chemically pulverising plants and trees. Thus, the FTC fined the brands for advertising a product as green, when in fact making it “can involve the use of harsh chemicals,” says Shaheen.
But there might be a way to further step up enforcement, says Hilary F. Jochmans, a government affairs consultant and the founder of PoliticallyInFashion, a fashion policy website. It’ll require consumers getting more politically involved, she says. “There needs to be a dialogue on these issues, and it starts with the community speaking up.” Consumers in the US can file a complaint of deceptive marketing at FTC.gov or by calling 877-FTC-HELP. And Jochmans says what’s ultimately needed is a major update to the Green Guides (the last update was in 2012) to reflect current science and to clearly define terms the industry is using, like “sustainable.” The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is in the best position to update the Green Guides, says Jochmans.
Of course, not all or even most brands are out to dupe consumers. There is an incredible drive to make the apparel industry less resource-hungry and polluting—and a growing consensus of what that means. More brands are moving toward sourcing eco-friendly materials, whether they’re recycled, organic, Regenerative Organic or a host of other possibilities. Oak & Acorn uses a combination of upcycled materials, hemp, and Refibra, a recycled fiber, for example. Patagonia recently switched the insulation in its Nano Puff® jacket to 100 percent recycled insulation, reducing the product’s carbon emissions by 510,000 pounds.
Sustainable brands are also earning consumer trust by using third-party certifications, such as bluesign® for the manufacturing phase or Textile Exchange’s Global Recycled Standard to verify the use of recycled material. prAna, a sustainable athleisure and basics brand, is one company heavily relying on these third-party certifications.
Other brands are measuring their own products’ impacts, from the carbon emitted to the water used, and publishing that data for consumers to see. In just one recent example, Allbirds published the carbon footprint of its footwear. And Textile Exchange is pushing companies to map their supply chain as a very first step. “Part of making sustainability true and authentic and honest is having as much transparency as possible,” says Gill. She mentions Patagonia, Eileen Fisher and Fjällräven as leaders in transparency.
And when it comes to making green claims, the advice to companies is fairly straightforward: They should always be substantiated. “When you say, ‘Our clothing is sustainable,’ also say ‘Here are the five or so principles of sustainability that we adhere to and that we live by,’” says Shaheen.
These are all significant steps in the right direction, but underneath all of the debate about greenwashing in fashion is a much bigger conversation. We’re not really talking about greenwashing; we’re talking about the future of life on this planet. Fashion’s overall environmental impact is going up year after year (with the notable exception of 2020 because of the historic decline in apparel purchases during the pandemic). The 2019 update of the Pulse of the Fashion Industry, an annual report released by Boston Consulting Group and the Global Fashion Agenda, found that progress toward sustainability in fashion appears to be slowing. And since the term “greenwashing” was first coined, climate change and unsustainable resource consumption have reached critical levels. What was once a nuisance – overselling environmental gains – could now be a threat to our long-term survival.
Recycled cotton is spooled into T-shirt yarn at Giotex factory, a Patagonia supplier in Mérida, Mexico. Photo: Keri Oberly.
