What do the green logo of McDonald’s in Europe, the green speech of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a car manufacturer who plants a tree if you buy his car have in common?
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These are three examples of greenwashing (or greenwashing) where the green appearance is used to hide a lackluster reality.
Two speakers from the Global Youth Biodiversity Network were giving a workshop to identify “eco-show offs”.
Courtesy picture
The McDonald’s logo in France is green because it’s greener.
“In France, the McDonald’s logo has been on a green background for many years, and no longer red like here, and that is the archetype of empty greenwashing,” says Julie Safourcade, 25.
“When a corporation suddenly adorns itself with symbols of environmentalism, beware. »
The main symptom of ecohypocrisy is very often a garish overstatement of signals of virtue.
“A completely green packaging where it says sustainable, natural, zero paraben, zero silicone, and drawings of plants all over the place, it’s suspicious,” adds Ambre Bichard, 21 years old.
“A certification label may very well have been created by manufacturers who self-attribute it. »
Too little subtle greenwashing can become comical. “The Swedish car brand Skoda once said: We will plant a tree if you buy one of our vehicles. While the car has not yet left the factory, the CO2 emissions to build it already outrageously exceed the carbon capture capacity of a tree,” laughs Ms. Bichard.
Virtuoso eco-shower
The best example of an eco-show-off listed by the two speakers is a politician who addressed them at the opening of COP15: Justin Trudeau.
“He’s the cliché of the perfect guy and his environmentalist speech is impeccable… to make people forget his pro-oil policies! »