Greenwashing is causing actual damage to our environment

In Denmark there are large composting plants, but a survey to them shows that none of them will accept this drinking bottle. In other words, the beverage bottle is only theoretically compostable at best and thus will burden the waste stream as residual waste, which is typically incinerated.

In another case, a biodegradable cup is provided with a very thorough analysis report showing that the cup can be broken down at landfill and contribute to the production of biogas from the landfill. Only problem: It is a clear strategy in most of the world that landfills should not be used for that type of waste. Apart from that: If the bottle should end up in a composting plant and the cup in a landfill, we need to be sure that there are actually places where the consumer can deliver the bottle and the cup in the fitted containers, which subsequently end up in the right places.

Such schemes do not exist. In this case, we are talking about greenwashing of the worst kind, and we must note that the suppliers who honestly tried to sell an environmentally sound product lost to suppliers who end up supplying products with a clearly negative environmental profile.

And let's look at the bamboo ball pen, which has become so popular because bamboo is natural and organic, while plastic is hated and synthetic. When the bamboo ball pen no longer works, it goes in the residual waste, whereas the plastic ball pen, which has been a water bottle in its previous life, may resurface as a ballpoint pen or garden furniture (if there is a place to deliver it).

Here it is important to emphasize: Green, sustainable, environmentally friendly, etc. are often associated with something natural. And it is also clear that plant-based products have the advantage that they are made from renewable resources, but it is not necessarily sustainable to produce products from new renewable resources and thus contribute double to the waste mountains in a modern consumer society.

The big question now is: What do you do as a company and supplier of products? Some will say: We have to jump on the cart and sell green, organic bio-sustainable products, because that's what customers and consumers demand. And in the B2B world, every customer wants to be able to show that they are green and environmentally conscious. And if we don't sell green products, there are just other actors who do; and we live by selling.