Popular beauty brands accused of greenwashing
Environmentally conscious shoppers could be misled by beauty brands promoting “eco” products, a consumer watchdog says.
Consumer NZ looked into the green claims on a range of cosmetics and found some weren’t backed up by evidence, creating the potential for “greenwashing.”
Greenwashing is a term used to describe a false or misleading claim made by a brand or company about the positive impact it has on the environment.
Gemma Rasmussen, Consumer NZ head of research and advocacy, said the beauty industry was one of many wielding significant influence over eco-conscious consumers.
“Green marketing is powerful because it’s assuring – but if it’s inaccurate, it’s not OK,” she said.
One example was a skin cleansing wipe made by Nivea, which the company claimed was biodegradable in water. However, if used to remove make-up, the wipe could result in non-biodegradable particles entering the environment, Rasmussen said.
In a similar vein, Garnier sold a reusable eco pad that could be washed and reused.
While that sounded like an eco-friendly approach to skincare, the pads were made from polyester, a fabric which is likely to shed microplastics in the wash, Rasmussen said.
A spokesperson for Garnier parent company L’Oreal said the reusable pads were designed to minimise daily consumer waste from single use items.
The composition of the reusable pads met European Union textile regulations, she said.
Consumer NZ also raised questions with Essano, which claimed its Collagen Boost sheet mask would biodegrade in six months.
“When we looked at this mask last year, it didn’t say what conditions it needed to biodegrade,” Rasmussen said.
After being contacted by Consumer, Essano updated its website and packaging to say its cotton fibres “decompose within six months and can be commercially composted”.
Despite the update, the packaging still failed to say what conditions the mask needs in order to biodegrade, like soil, or home compost, Rasmussen said.
It also highlighted another issue – New Zea- land’s limited and inept commercial compost facilities.
“The reality is, the mask will most likely end up in landfill,” she said.
Rasmussen said New Zealanders were increasingly switching to more sustainable products and brands, with one-in-10 changing their spending habits for environmental reasons.
While the watchdog’s research showed more than 75% of New Zealanders placed some importance on a product’s green claims being verified before it was sold, there was no independent vetting or checking required before products making green claims made it to shelves.
Our investigations continue to find that many green claims are unsubstantiated and risk breaching the Fair Trading Act,” she said.
“It is incredibly hard to verify many claims on products marketed as environmentally friendly or ethical choices.”
The EU had agreed and was working to introduce a new law banning greenwashing and misleading product information.
The change would prevent the use of generic environmental claims like “natural”, “biodegradable” and “eco” without proof and regulate sustainability labels.
“We want to see similar action here so shoppers can trust what they see on a product’s label,” Rasmussen said.
“Right now, many New Zealanders are paying a premium for products they believe are better for the environment. It’s time for change.”