palletcentral

March-April 2020

Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1243182

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 40 of 47

PalletCentral • March-April 2020 41 marketing itself as environmentally friendly than on minimizing its environmental impact. Customers and employees alike are becoming increasingly sensitive to greenwashing. It can damage brands and employee engagement. It is also against the law. In 2019, for instance, Miami Beach-based retailer Truly Organic Inc. (Truly Organic) and its founder and CEO were ordered to pay $1.76 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint alleging that their nationally marketed bath and beauty products are neither "100% organic" nor "certified organic" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The company advertised its products as vegan, even though certain products contain non-vegan ingredients like honey and lactose, according to the complaint. Organizations can guard against greenwashing claims by taking safeguards such as the following: n Avoid using fuzzy or general claims such as natural, eco-friendly, sustainable or planet-safe. n When using more specific green terminology, understand the meaning and ensure that you use the terms accurately. n Make sure that claims are evidence-based, and that you have the data to back them up. n Do not make claims about environmental improvements your company has made if they were required to achieve regulatory compliance. n Transparency matters. Be honest about where your company is in its sustainability journey. Don't lie by omission, for example, if your efforts to be more green pale in comparison to your overall footprint. n Do not tout your sustainability superiority if you have suppliers or customers who have a very poor sustainability record. Recycling in the supply chain Corporate recycling programs that concentrate on a facility approach can successfully divert recyclable materials but find themselves hard-pressed to address the challenges of nonrecyclable or difficult-to-recycle materials. Companies are coming to recognize that in order to achieve zero waste, a supply chain approach to recycling may be required. Through aligning procurement with the recycling initiative,

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

view archives of palletcentral - March-April 2020