More and more energy companies worldwide are upgrading to eco-friendly options, or at least improvements over the dirty fuels that humanity has relied on for too long. However, some companies vastly overstate their efforts to go green, and in the process, they mislead consumers into choosing options that are more harmful than they appear.
That was the case with New Zealand gas company Clarus and a recent ad campaign it ran, RNZ News reported.
What’s happening?
Clarus did take a small step to improve its offerings. Instead of offering solely natural gas, made of methane harvested from underground, it mixed in a small amount of renewable biomethane from a composting plant.
However, its new ad campaign made it sound like it had taken a much bigger step. “Renewable gas now flowing — Enjoy all the same benefits of gas with renewable gas,” read the ads, per RNZ News.
While it didn’t outright state that the company was now providing pure renewable gas, it could easily be read that way — and complaints filed with the Advertising Standards Authority said as much.
Complainant and 350 Aotearoa climate campaigner Adam Currie said the ad was “classic greenwashing,” per RNZ News. “For the foreseeable future, any biomethane produced at the Reporoa facility will make up a tiny fraction of Clarus’ gas supply,” he continued. “In addition, all of this biomethane is blended with regular fossil gas — it is no way renewable … yet their marketing leads consumers to believe they are buying a fully renewable product.”
All of this looks even worse with context. The residential gas market in New Zealand has been dwindling as prices are on the rise. The gas companies pushed for homes to keep connecting to gas pipelines in the hope that a developing biomethane market could save the industry, when most homes would benefit from simply switching to cheaper electric appliances.
Why is Clarus’s greenwashing important?
Greenwashing — when a company presents its products or initiatives as being more eco-friendly than they really are — can fool consumers into buying a product or service that they would avoid if they knew the truth. It deprives them of the chance to make an informed choice, and ultimately increases the amount of pollution in the world as people choose more-polluting options when they would have preferred less-polluting ones.
What’s being done about Clarus’s greenwashing?
Before the ASA could act on the complaints about the ad campaign, Clarus chose not to renew the ad. It is no longer running, so the ASA considered the matter resolved.
Hopefully, the case will have gotten enough publicity that affected families can choose a greener option to switch to.
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
