Greenwashing and awareness when buying natural products

Yesterday, while I was shopping in different places, where two interesting things caught my attention. First, I was in a shop where I often buy organic food. The shop is nice and they have a lot of really good brands and products, among which they sell also a few cosmetic brands. I have already checked the cosmetics that they sell and I was quite upset . The brands are better than the drugstore ones, but they aren’t organic at all. So I decided not to buy cosmetics there. Otherwise, they are really cool. Anyway, while I was paying and almost going out from the shop, I noticed a man who was reading labels on the bottles of that cosmetic and checking something. Suddenly, he asked the seller: “Is this product certified organic?” And the seller replied: ” Yes, of course it’s all natural and organic and really good.” In that moment I realized that he was checking and trying hard to understand if the cosmetic was organic. Surely, he asked for advice in hope to get an appropriate answer.

The second similar case was in another shop, where I usually don’t buy. Sometimes, I buy there just small empty glass containers for my home-made cosmetics. They sell “natural” products, that kind of product with just the label natural on. Surprisingly, the same story repeated. When I was paying, a lady beside me, asked the seller if the product that she was looking at (it was a usual toothpaste) is really natural like the label claims. Obviously, the seller (again) publicized the purity and quality of that “natural” product. In that moment the lady was relieved and she bought the product in good faith that is natural.

My mind was full of questions after these two events. I recognized the phenomenon of greenwashing, about which I was reading recently. Shortly, greenwashing is a misleading advertising in different forms, that makes you believe that a usual company just by naming products green/natural/organic, is responsible for the environment and the organic quality of that product. However, many times, this is just a marketing strategy to sell more. Someone noticed that “natural” sells good and that became almost a trend. Consequently, a new selling niche was born.

In my case, on one hand, I was asking myself how can someone just blindly believe in nice words? On the other hand, I understood the seller; she was just doing her job. Let’s suppose, she knew that the product was not organic because of some harmful ingredients, still, her situation was not easy in that moment. Many years ago, I was in a similar situation, too.

You will maybe want to know why I haven’t said anything in both cases? Because I realized everything, while going out from the second shop. In short, this was a nice lesson for me to think about and to realize that I am really happy that I’ve chosen to expand my and others awareness about this topic. I’m also glad that people are becoming more and more interested in natural products. We certainly need to learn more and move to the next level, but it’s very good that these changes in perception are becoming visible. Right now, I am also preparing new courses about green beauty and make-up, its correct use and buying with awareness. However, I respect others choices and I’m not forcing no one to follow my opinion, but I feel good when I think that I can contribute to the wellbeing of the planet and its habitants (animals included).

“All that glitters is not gold”

is a well-known saying and I say:

“All that looks green is not always green.”

(photo: istock.com)