SELFHOOD on: Greenwashing

by Adele Lefebvre du Prey

Photo credit: Dmitriy Ganin

Sustainability. Eco-friendly. Green. Through overuse ad nauseum, these have become corporate buzzwords used to create the illusion that companies care - otherwise known as greenwashing. But the Next Gen see straight through this thinly-veiled facade. It’s time to cut the crap.

In recent times, greenwashing has become most identifiable within the world of fast fashion. From promoting recycling schemes to offering cash rewards and discount codes in return for unwanted items, fast fashion houses are increasingly aware of their impact on the environment and the need to offset the perception by being vocal about ‘green’ credentials. 

But to many, schemes like this come across as little more than PR schemes attempting to secure (vegan) brownie points without being properly thought through. 

Hauk, 20, Bergen, refers to this as ‘performative activism’:

“Young people may not have the word [performative activism] in their vocabulary, but I think most of my friends know that there's something little bit off with these strategies from brands.”

Returning clothes you’ve bought online to a physical store shows little thought to convenience, and once again shifts the onus back on the buyer. In any case, there is a lack of trust that even if they did return their items, the clothes wouldn’t just end up in landfill anyway. 

Meanwhile studies are now finding that clothing rental is even worse for the environment than simply disposing of them, due to the hidden transport and dry cleaning costs to the planet. 

Young people have been forced to build strong BS detectors to navigate a world full of fake news and distrust.

Brands need to provide proof of the actions they are taking to reduce their impact on the environment - it’s more than sticking a green label on a bottle or playing with clever eco-semantics when naming a new range. 

But pressure to reduce bottom line costs continue to prohibit any meaningful change in this space. Which means, once again, it’s the Next Gen taking responsibility for moving things forward, often by giving their garms a second life through Depop, Ebay or donating them to a charity shop. 

Mimi, 24, London, explained her take on the industry and her stance on fair fashion:

“Fashion, just like art, is a really powerful way to express yourself. You are literally wearing your values.” 

Like many others, she sees wearing fast fashion items as a way of supporting, promoting and justifying an industry that very evidently has a negative impact on the planet. 

However, they’re also quick to credit brands when they get it right. Louis, 19, Kent, lauded Vivobarefoot: a brand that has woven repairing, reconditioning and recycling into the whole product experience. Across their platforms, they clearly promote blogs and social causes that both they and their consumers can get involved with. Their reconditioning service shows they stand behind the longevity and robustness of their shoes. Yes, a premium is paid for the product - but when the return is a product that will last for 10+ years, it’s increasingly one that the Next Gen are comfortable paying. 

Despite what many marketers seem to think, young people aren’t asking brands to solve the climate crisis. But they are fed up with feeling like they are shouldering the responsibility themselves. 

Brands that aren’t prepared to step up to the plate and do their bit will find themselves increasingly dismissed, rejected and ignored by this generation. If preventing the demise of the planet isn’t big enough motivation for brands to change, then perhaps the threat of irrelevance will be.