If you have been reading our newsletters for a good while, you will know our number one advice what it comes to avoiding greenwashing: be concrete.

By being concrete you avoid using terms that can be misunderstood and they are so much easier to document.

However, concrete communication is still far from the most common communication form, and we are still seeing a high use of general terms.

To list a few:

• Eco-friendly

• Sustainable

• Responsible

• Climate responsible

• Conscious

• Green

And the list goes on. It seems that it is limited only by imagination.

Therefore, companies might be lacking good examples terms to replace those listed above.

We thought we’d do you a favour and list a few:

• Contains 70% post-consumer recycled polyester

• Made from organic cotton

• OEKO-TEX certified

• Solar-powered

• Upcycled

• GOTS certified

• Made from TENCEL™ LYOCELL

• Contains RE:DOWN

And this is just for product descriptions.

When it comes to communicating about your company’s efforts, the principle is the same: stick to what’s really going on.

• Ensuring living wage

• Due Diligence procedure

• Supply planning

• Testing for chemicals

• Policy distribution

• Supplier Audit

• Rewilding project

• Renewable energy investment

• Waste sorting

• Quality management system

• Risk assessments

In the end, it is actually much easier to create concrete communication, because it does not require you to “rebrand” or “reframe” your efforts.

And as an added bonus, concrete communication helps make us all wiser.

Interested in hearing more? Check out our sustainability communication services.