Greenwashing, when companies – whether knowingly or unwittingly – make exaggerated or misleading sustainability claims, is a growing concern.

In fact, 68% of U.S. executives admit that their companies have greenwashed at times, according to a 2022 Harris Poll for Google Cloud. And, more than half (52%) of consumers have encountered misleading information about brands’ sustainability claims, according to a 2023 Kantar report.

In this episode of Promo Insiders, Lou Elliott-Cysewski, CEO of Coolperx (asi/556047) and a member of the Promo for the Planet Editorial Advisory Board, talks about some of the subtle ways greenwashing crops up in marketing and how to be on the lookout for it.

Elliott-Cysewski advises companies not to lead with their sustainability claims, focusing instead on offering durable, high-quality products and solving business problems. “I actually think the less you say about your sustainability efforts, the better,” she adds.

That’s not to mean that such efforts shouldn’t be made. Instead, certifications and other sustainability achievements should be readily available on a company’s website, just not the main selling point of marketing messaging.