Idioms

greenwash

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greenwash

1. verb To make illegally obtained money appear to have come from legal channels; to launder money. This isn't a foolproof plan, Jack—eventually, someone is going to catch you greenwashing. A: "My boss has me take the money and deposit it into ATMs around the city. He says it's to reduce the fees we pay." B: "You can't greenwash for your boss, dude—that's money laundering!" The guy employs thugs to eliminate all of his enemies! Why are you surprised he greenwashes to fund his operation?
2. noun Activities undertaken by an organization or company so that it appears more environmentally conscious. Is this "recycled content" label legit, or is it just greenwash? With so many companies claiming to be eco-friendly these days, I bet there's more greenwashing than ever. Somebody's gotta tell that company to ditch the greenwashing and actually put money into sustainable energy solutions!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

greenwash

tv. to launder money; to obliterate the illegal sources of money by moving it through a variety of financial institutions. (Underworld.) It was shown in court that the mayor had been involved in greenwashing some of the bribe money.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
Greenwashing is not new; it will continue as long as there are both absolute and positional benefits to be derived.
If you are not accurate, you risk greenwashing. While the word "greenwash" is a relatively new term, the concept is not.
I am hoping that governments will crack down on greenwashing and give environmental credentials more meaning," she said.
This was in response to the growing practice of 'greenwashing', a term to describe what corporations and other organisations do when they try to make themselves look more environmentally friendly than they really are.
Rather than being a form of greenwashing, Suncor's advertorials in Alternatives are an opportunity for our readers to be involved in an essential exchange with the vice president of sustainable development from one of our country's more thoughtful oil producers.
"Greenwashing" is the term for ads and labels that promise more environmental benefit than they deliver.
InterfaceFlor, is the modular flooring division of US-based Interface, has launched a regional campaign to encourage companies to stop 'greenwashing' consumers with environmental product claims.
New York biologist and environmentalist Jay Westerveld coined the term greenwashing in a 1986 essay to refer to organizations that spend more time and money advertising that they are green than on actually putting into place environmentally friendly practices.
According to a December 2007 study released by the environmental marketing company TerraChoice, 99 percent of 1,018 common consumer products randomly surveyed were guilty of greenwashing on some level.
Toronto, June 3 (ANI): A survey has shown that 46 percent Canadians believe that companies are 'greenwashing' or lying about their products being environment friendly, which leads to consumers leading less eco-friendly lives.
A common method of greenwashing is using packaging that is coloured green or drawing attention to one sustainable aspect of a product that has many other environmentally degrading attributes.
With the proliferation of "green" products in the paint and coatings market, it is necessary for manufacturers to label these products appropriately to avoid the appearance of "greenwashing." Greenwashing is a term used to describe the act of labeling or otherwise marketing a product as "green," or making some other environmental marketing claim about a product, without properly substantiating the claim.
The Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee is investigating the emerging phenomenon of "greenwashing," which is the false or misleading claims about "green" or "eco-friendly" products.
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