The Great, Green Holiday: Is Your Trip Sustainable or Greenwashed?
It happens. It’s everywhere. It’s problematic. But just how destructive is greenwashing? And what does it mean for you and your travel choices?
Greenwashing is a tricky thing to pinpoint. It’s a specific brand of marketing, expertly created and curated to mask some of the worst environmental sins of the world’s largest corporations.
So, 1) how do we identify it? and 2) can we escape it?
We’ll start with question two, ‘can we escape it?’and the bad news is no. As long as there is money to be made, there will be marketing designed to hide the problematic side of consumerism and capitalism. There is no escape. Does that mean we go to the nearest corner, have a wee sit down, and a cry? Yes. I do so regularly. However, I then have a word with myself, get back up, and make my best attempt to cause the least amount of damage with my travel purchases. It’s not perfect, but it’s honest and it’s what I can manage.
The good news comes from answering that first question, ‘how do we identify it?’ There are certain identifiers that give greenwashing away and help you avoid spending money on unsustainable travel choices. Together, we’re going to break those down in an attempt to minimise your bouts of corner-sobbing the next time you book a holiday.
What It Looks Like
Identifying greenwashing is tricky — at first. However, like most things, it can be learned. Once you know what to look for, you can hone your ability to spot the signs of greenwashing. For some tourists, it will become second nature; if you find yourself in this category, prepare to be thoroughly pissed off as you become hyper-aware of just how often greenwashing happens. Ignorance really is bliss. Unfortunately, ignorance is also the thing that will allow corporations to kill our planet and, as a result, us. So, learning how to spot problematic marketing is probably a good skill to acquire — even if it ruins your holiday.
Fortunately, companies often lack originality in this department so there are some consistent greenwashing visuals and methods that are easily recognisable. You can use these as a foundation from which to question the intention and integrity behind marketing campaigns. As a writer, I have worked in marketing for nearly 10 years — the freelance writing world is tough, my bills refuse to pay themselves (despite my consistent begging), and so my skills and soul are regularly sold to the highest bidder — and these are the things that I see and hear in marketing meetings consistently.
Nature-based imagery
Look for specific colour palettes — earthy browns and oranges, vibrant or deep greens, bright blues — colours that bring to mind the splendour of nature. If, when you see an ad or packaging, you think of sparkling blue waters, crisp white snow atop serene but craggy mountains, thriving flora and fauna that makes you revel in the lushness of Mother Nature’s creations then you’re looking at the type of imagery found in greenwashing. These are all designed to evoke feelings of tranquility, and stir consumers’ desires to protect and preserve our Earth — the subliminal messaging being that you will be doing so by purchasing the product behind that imagery.
As lovely a feeling as that is, and a noble pursuit, the comparative impact of our individual consumer choices are minuscule to the planet-saving potential held by the corporations that are producing consumer goods in an unsustainable way. If you think that businesses are unaware of how damaging their production practices are, ask yourself why corporations spend so much money on greenwashing if they don’t know the dangers of those production methods?
Of course, we can always boycott, riot, and go absolutely feral on capitalism, which is one of my many fantasies. Realistically, however, the fastest, most effective way to consume sustainably is a change at the source of production. Does that mean that our individual choices don’t matter? Of course not! I’ve written an entire article about its importance, which you can find on my Substack. What I’m saying is that there is a faster, more effective way of saving the planet, and that’s for corporations to start giving a genuine shit rather than just pretending they do.
That wee recycling symbol
It’s a good start, but that’s all it is, and it falls severely short when we look at real-term climate and sustainability impact. That wee symbol lures you, the consumer, into a false sense of security by making you think you’re making a responsible and sustainable choice. This company recycles. Therefore waste is reduced. This packaging isn’t going into a landfill, polluting the planet. Yay! However, unless that entire recycling process is broken down on that label, step-by-mediocre-time-consuming-step, that symbol doesn’t stand for all that much.
What it really means is that, technically, that product on which the recycling symbol appears can be recycled or the plastic has been recycled at some point in its existence, so it is legally allowed to be displayed on the label. Whether that product is recycled, well, that’s on the person who uses the product, not the company that produces it. Whether that product packaging was recycled earlier in its existence by the company in question is also not clear. The pressure is put on the purchaser not the producer, but it’s the producer that commercially benefits from appearing sustainable. Sneaky, sneaky.
Carbon footprint calculators
This greenwashing puts the onus on customers rather than forcing the corporations to take responsibility. In the travelsphere, this is the ultimate greenwash, the daddy of environmentally destructive marketing. Airlines are the royalty of the ‘offset your carbon footprint by paying an extra fee’ lot. As far as marketing goes, it’s a masterclass in how to get your customers to pay for your mistakes and damage. Bravo to the airlines in that department. ‘Fuck you’, to them, in almost every other way. Pay for the damage you cause and stop fucking about.
Before You Buy…
With greenwashing being both prevalent and hard to identify, there are some simple things that you can ask about products or services. These can help determine whether a business is as eco-friendly or sustainable as it is making itself out to be.
Packaging
A company claims they use recycled packaging. Ask yourself, have they switched to more sustainable packaging materials? Produced less? Encouraged the use of refillable, reusable alternatives? If not, then why not?
Hyperbole & vague language
A company uses phrases like ‘we care’ or ‘we do our part for the environment’.
o Have they outlined the precise steps they have already taken showing how they care? Have they detailed the motivation behind why they care?
o Example: An airline states on its website that making flights more sustainable and less environmentally damaging in the future is at the core of what they do. But they don’t name which fuel their aircraft use or how it’s sourced; all the onboard food and drinks come in plastic; they are being investigated by the European Commission for greenwashing and making false sustainability claims. Their lovely sentiments aren’t quite so lovely when compared to their actions.
Symbols and graphics
A company uses the recycling symbol or bio symbol. Do they break down their recycling process from consumer return to repurchase? No? Why not? Why not make that clear?
And the Award for Worst Greenwashers Goes to…
This is hard to identify for two main reasons. First, the travel companies that greenwash a lot, become seasoned at hiding it. Second, I don’t want to get sued for libel; these companies can afford better lawyers than me. So, out of pure self-preservation, I’m keeping this general.
Airlines
This may seem obvious as we have been aware of the environmental damage caused by air traffic for decades. However, many airlines resort to methods such as charging passengers a fee to offset carbon emissions and promises to use sustainable aviation fuels in the future. This has become so prevalent and problematic that numerous airlines, globally, have been sued or investigated in the past, or are currently being sued and investigated by governments, organisations, and institutions for greenwashing. I will link a few articles in the comments below, if you want to research this a bit more for yourself.
Clothing Brands
You don’t need a new wardrobe to go on holiday. I know you think you do. I promise you don’t. Clothing brands know that you think you need new clothes to travel — the perfect long-haul flight outfit, the perfect Greek island date night outfit, the best wellies for festival season, etc. They’re banking on you over-consuming shit you don’t need in preparation for your trip. Based on a SilkFred consumer survey, the average British traveller purchases six items of clothing per trip taken.
I combat this in three ways. First, I take only carry on luggage — I’ve not checked a bag for a flight in 10 years, not to sound like a sanctimonious prick. Second, I rewear outfits on holiday — on longer trips I use accommodation laundry services, hand wash knickers in the sink, or find local laundromats. Third, I wait 48-72 hours between thinking I need a new item and purchasing said item, most of the time I realise that I don’t need to buy it.
If you really do get more out of your holiday by having a new outfit, then I recommend waiting until you arrive at your destination, finding a local independent shop you like the look of, and buying clothes there — you get your new outfit, a fantastic souvenir, and partake in an important part of sustainable tourism: putting back into the local economy. It’s a win-win-win.
Accommodations
From luxury chain hotels to home-stays, there is a wide variety of greenwashing within the travel accommodation sector. Travellers will be aware of the controversy with homestay booking platforms — rapid gentrification and locals being unable to afford to live in their own towns and cities. One of the subtle marketing methods used to soften this negative image is the use of booking experiences as part of your stay. These are events and activities sold as being hosted and run by locals.
However, ask yourself what percentage of cost do these platforms take from the locals? I have been on the tour guide side of these kinds of booking platforms and they can brutal, aggressive, and greedy — with hosts and experience providers receiving shockingly small percentages of the price customers have paid. When we look at these booking platforms ‘experiences’ push, they are selling themselves as being closely, positively linked to local communities whose homes they are taking over and using. This begs the questions: is this genuine or is it simply a combative response to the negative opinion of some homestay booking platforms’ roles in gentrification?
An easy solution for conscientious travellers? Book these experiences, activities, and tours directly from the local host or guide — they’re more likely to get 100% of the payment and you get to travel with your conscience intact.
It’s Not You, It’s Them
The next time you’re preparing for your holidays, keep this in mind: just because a company says their products and services are ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘sustainable’ doesn’t mean that they are. Companies are out to make money and they know that eco and sustainable products and services sell. Companies’ sustainable ‘initiatives’ are the sustainability equivalent of someone shooting you, offering you a plaster to stop the bleeding, and then wondering why you’re not grateful for their help. It’s not exactly an appropriate response to the level of damage caused, is it? In that situation, no one would judge you for yelling, ‘if you hadn’t have shot me then I wouldn’t be fucking bleeding, what the fuck’s a plaster going to do?!’ They are the cause, so they need to provide a better cure.
I’m not suggesting that you go full boycott and riot (unless that’s your dream), I’m simply suggesting you don’t blindly trust everything you see on packaging and ads. At the end of the day, they’re created to sell you a specific idea so that you buy something you don’t need.