Beware of “Greenwashing”

We are all familiar with the term “whitewashing.” The verb whitewash used in the figurative sense means "to cover up, conceal, give a false appearance of cleanness to," and it was used with that meaning by the middle of the 18th century

But what about “greenwashing”? What does that word mean and why should we beware of what it designates? 

Greenwashing is defined as “the act or practice of making a product, policy, activity, etc. appear to be more environmentally friendly or less environmentally damaging than it really is.” This word was first used around 1990.*¹

Since it is a form of deception, we must be aware of and beware of greenwashing. This is one of the many important emphases in a new book (in English) that I have read and written a review of this month.*²

The book title is Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto, and the author’s name is given as Kōhei Saitō. The English translation was issued just last month, but the original Japanese edition was published in 2020, and its (translated) title is “Capital” in the Anthropocene.*³

Saitō (b. 1987) was born in Japan but was a university student in the U.S. from 2005 to 2009 and then in Germany, where he earned a Ph.D. degree in 2015. After a few years teaching at a university in Osaka, in 2022 he became an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Tokyo.

“Ecology Is the Opiate of the Masses!” is the attention-grabbing title of the Introduction in Saitō’s book. He explains,

Long ago, Marx characterized religion as “the opiate of the masses” because he saw it as offering temporary relief from the painful reality brought about by capitalism. SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] are none other than a contemporary version of the same “opiate” (xvii-xviii).

Before that, though, in his preface to the English edition, Saitō asserts that “greenwashing is everywhere,” and he describes that concept as “an optimistic belief in green technologies and green growth” and says that it “may be nothing more than a ploy to buy time for capitalism” (xi).

Saitō’s main criticism is not directed toward the global warming deniers, whom he rarely mentions, but toward those who want to save the environment. Thus, his second chapter mainly disparages proponents of the Green New Deal (GND)—as I was when I made a blog post affirming the GND in Feb. 2019.

He asks, “Can a Green New Deal really save us,” and he answers his rhetorical question in the negative. Why? Because those espousing the Green New Deal emphasize “green growth,” which Saitō thinks is impossible. And now I think he is probably right and my previous support of the GND was wrong.

Politicians always have to be concerned about the next election, so affirming “green growth” is a way of appealing to those who want to combat the dangers of climate change as well as to continue receiving the support of “big business.”

But Saitō’s main point throughout his book is clearly stated in the Introduction: capitalism is the “root cause” of the current climate crisis (p. xix). Greenwashing is used to protect capitalism by making people think that the GND and the like will alleviate the ever-increasing environmental crisis.

So, why should we beware of greenwashing? For the simple reason that the New Green Deal and other similar plans for saving the planet from global warming are deceitful, for they propose that that can be done with capitalism kept intact. Still, the NGD is certainly better than maintaining the status quo.

Saitō’s analysis of the climate/ecological problem is most probably accurate. (You’ll have to read Saitō’s book or at least a/my review of it to understand what degrowth communism means and why he thinks that it is the only viable solution to the current climate crisis.)

But the solution he posits, a worldwide shift from capitalism to degrowth communism, is absolutely unrealistic. Even Saitō says, “The Earth will become uninhabitable for humankind before capitalism collapses” (p. 26).

But, sadly, with the MAGA Republicans refusing to provide additional funding for Ukraine and candidate Trump saying he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” if it attacked a NATO country that didn’t pay enough for defense, perhaps nuclear warfare will bring the end of the world as we know it before the ecological crisis does.

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*¹ From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

*² The review was written for The Englewood Review of Books, which provided me with a free copy of Saitō’s thought-provoking book. My review will appear on ERB’s website next month, but you can read (here) the review article (of around 1,200 words) that I submitted to Englewood.

*³ In the first printing of the English translation, all references to global temperatures should be disregarded, for they are all incorrect. I was able to exchange emails with author Saitō about this matter, and he said it was “a stupid conversion error” that has already been fixed on the Kindle version and will be corrected in the subsequent printings of the published book.

Note: Here is the link to a YouTube video of Saitō explaining his understanding of degrowth communism. That video has had nearly 10,000 views, and there are other, and longer, videos by Saitō on YouTube.