5 Ways Health and Wellness Brands Can Avoid Greenwashing

Environmentalist Jay Westerveld coined the term "greenwashing" in 1986 while visiting Fiji. The hotel he was staying at had a policy that urged guests to reuse their towels to “save the environment,” but he ultimately uncovered it was to save on laundry expenses.

Now, in the age of social media and information overload, brands even loosely associated with the phrase face defamation, cancellation and class-action lawsuits. Unfortunately, the retail industry is known to frequent these headlines, especially when it comes to health and wellness brands, which are known to push the bounds of their holistic representation.

This year, a report from PwC showed that 80 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainably produced or sourced goods. This puts added pressure on the health and wellness retail industry, which is currently growing at a rate of 5 percent to 10 percent per year in the U.S. alone, to push out clean and green messaging as fast as possible to stand out from competitors.

But before making claims of environmental virtues, wellness brands must first ensure they’re making a real impact and marketing it truthfully.

Greenwashing Defined and Exemplified

The Natural Resources Defense Council defines greenwashing as the act of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or practice. Below are just a few common examples of greenwashing tactics frequented by the health and wellness industry:

• deceptive sustainable packaging claims;
• false recyclability assertions;
• unverifiable carbon footprint disclosures;
• concealment of pollution reports;
• false cruelty-free pretenses; and
• misleading advertisements.

Ways to Establish or Improve Sustainable Integrity

If you want to start making impactful changes to your wellness brand’s sustainable efforts but aren’t sure where to start, here are a few recommendations:

1. Certify your manufacturing process. Attaining certifications like ISO 14001, which helps organizations establish and maintain an environmental management system to reduce environmental impact and improve sustainability performance, signals a brand’s commitment to clear policies, best practices and their devotion to them.
2. Consider on-site operational changes. Setting energy reduction goals for on-site operations can help meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives. For example, at Trace we’re going to be installing solar panels to power our future mineral ponds welcome center on renewable energy. Switching to clean energy can greatly impact operational efficiency for the better while helping reach carbon neutral target dates.
3. Opt for ethical product/ingredient sourcing. Review your company’s supply chain to ensure you’re working with businesses that practice fair labor standards, ensure safe working conditions for employees, follow a clear set of business ethics, are making positive social impact, are environmentally sustainable, and adhere to regulatory codes of conduct. If they fail to meet the rising standards of the modern market, identify, evaluate and select new ones.
4. Improve product packaging. Plastic bottles are a health and wellness hallmark, but changing them for the better can be a daunting task. Take it in strides that place the importance on making the most impact first. At Trace, we started the shift this May by switching over all our top-selling product packaging to 100 percent post-consumer recyclable (PCR) material. From there we’ve been making the change across all our products on a strategic timeline and have set the standard for any new products we sell in the future. By switching to a more sustainable packaging source, brands showcase their commitment to addressing plastic’s ongoing negative impacts on the environment.
5. Support environmental causes that align with your brand: Seek out ways to give back to the environment that resonate with your brand’s mission. For example, as a brand based in Salt Lake City that relies on the local network of mineral ponds, our team at Trace was actively involved in recent legislation that holds mineral extraction companies accountable for their water usage. By working responsibly alongside the government we’re upholding our commitment to the local environment — a cause our brand was founded on more than half a century ago.

Be a Part of the Change

As an industry that’s become synonymous with holistic practices and a wholesome lifestyle, the health and wellness industry is uniquely positioned to lead by example with major impact. It’s true there’s an inevitable cost incurred when making sustainable adjustments to a business, both financially and through the time it takes. Yet even so, those costs outweigh the assured depredation that accompanies greenwashing.

According to Climate Analytics, due to the latest growth rates of clean technologies and the increasing transition to renewable energy sources, by the end of 2024 we could see CO2 emissions begin to fall. By spending less time building out misleading brand campaigns and more time instituting effective sustainable initiatives, wellness companies can assert their role in supporting our environmental future.

Ryan Fisher is chief sustainability officer at Trace, America's No. 1 selling trace mineral, liquid magnesium, and performance nutrition brand and the leading provider of trace mineral-based supplements for 50 years.