3 Strategies to Counter Greenhushing Trends

In a world inundated with eco-friendly claims and sustainability buzzwords, discerning consumers are more skeptical than ever – and rightfully so. Concerns around bad actors using green marketing to sell more products have led to the crackdown against Greenwashing.

Yet those same conscious consumers demand that brands demonstrate commitment to social and environmental causes beyond their bottom line. The Shelton Group’s most recent Global Eco Pulse Survey found that 85% of people are “somewhat to extremely interested in hearing from companies about what they’re doing to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.”

So how do well-meaning marketers navigate this delicate balance?

Unfortunately the easiest solution has become Greenhushing, the unintended result of anti-greenwashing efforts.

Grist recently reported that in 2024, 88% of the greenest companies plan to “[decrease] their messaging about their climate targets, even though 93% said they were on track to meet their goals.” It’s not too surprising that inherently eco-conscious companies, who likely hold themselves to the highest standards, are also the wariest of engaging in perceived greenwashing. But this silencing has so many unfortunate consequences:

• For consumers, who are actively seeking brands who share their values

• For companies, who could sell more product and grow a more engaged customer base through promoting their authentic efforts to make a positive impact

• For industries as a whole, who would benefit from competitive pressure toward more mainstream green business practices as companies seek to further differentiate themselves with increasingly ambitious targets

Luckily, greenhushing is not the only solution. There are ways to promote your sustainable business practices in a thoughtful, impactful way – and avoid greenwashing accusations in the process.

Here are 3 key practices to keep in mind:

1) Don’t Go it Alone

Many companies fear buyer backlash or even lawsuits if they are accused of greenwashing. But this is a case where intention really can inform impact. If you are authentically engaged in eco-friendly practices and are deliberate about substantiating your marketing claims, you can back up whatever stories you’re telling with the facts.

The good news is that companies don’t need to build out a whole separate compliance and tracking function. There are so many partner services ready to support companies in quantifying impact and generating substantiation. This arms businesses with ready-made third-party reports to defend the story you’re telling about your sustainable practices. It can also provide inspiration around what sort of sustainability story to tell through your marketing efforts, based on the data.

These days there are many, many platforms that can support your  brand in this way. A few strong examples include:

• HowGood provides food companies with impact data at the ingredient level, to support claims around ethical supply chains, carbon accounting, and end-of-life product disposal

• Watershed provides consumer goods companies with a platform to measure, report, and reduce their carbon emissions – all the necessary fodder for a winning success story.

• CleanHub helps brands reduce their plastic pollution, either through rethinking their packaging or funding plastic removal from ocean hotspots.

All three third-party solutions below give brands the metrics-based substantiation to back up the sustainability strategy audiences are waiting to hear about.

2) Be Transparent

When it comes to setting sustainability targets, reaching those targets is obviously important. But what happens on the way to achieving those goals is also important  – even, and maybe especially, if you don’t actually achieve your desired outcome.

The pressure to be perfect contributes to well-meaning companies’ tendency toward greenhushing, but there’s so much value to be gained in sharing the messy middle. Sharing the details of the work you’re doing toward the goals you’ve set can actually be more impactful than a one time “look, we did it!” It shows greater engagement on the part of the company, even if you end up saying that you didn’t achieve what you’d set out to by the target date, but that you’ve learned particular lessons that will help you continue striving toward it.

Consumers know that this work is complicated. If you extend them the trust of sharing your authentic journey toward your targets, they’ll extend their trust back to you. This is fodder for the sort of behind-the-scenes content that engages consumers, and can be much more impactful than a stat on a page, even if that stat is sharing the good news of a goal reached.

Staffing company Insight Global does a great job of communicating their progress toward their goals – and not just the goals themselves – through digestible visuals and meaningful updates. Some goals have been exceeded and some are still in progress, but all show a deep willingness to improve beyond the starting point, and put in the necessary work.

Embracing a spirit of transparency is truly about focusing on the journey rather than the destination, and taking your audience along on that journey with you.

3) Tap into the Power of Specificity

Sometimes issues of climate change and social inequality feel so huge and daunting that it’s hard to even know where to begin. But brands don’t need to do everything in order to do something. In fact, going deep into one issue that feels more resonant for your brand and target consumers can be a lot more impactful than casting a wide net and just skimming the surface of many different topics. Incremental progress is still progress, and the more specific that progress is, the easier it will be to talk about.

One classic example is Unilever’s Lifebuoy Soap brand, which has a specific focus on promoting healthy hygiene habits through campaigns like "H is for Handwashing" aimed at reducing the spread of disease in children. The brand could choose so many different relevant causes to support but instead they go deep on one highly relevant social good: the idea that handwashing keeps you healthy. This feels authentic to the product, makes their brand more memorable and lovable, and is a simple narrative that is easy to understand.

So, pick one issue that makes sense for your brand to engage with – and then engage with it, boldly, transparently, and authentically. When the work is coming from a place of the brand’s true values, you combat the traps of both greenwashing and greenhushing, and build consumer trust for the long-term.

Not sure how to start? Reach out and let's chat about what makes the most sense for your brand's marketing goals.