Avoiding Greenwashing

exhibitor q & a

	ILLO: MARK FISHER
	HELP WANTED Send your tough questions about exhibiting to Linda Armstrong, larmstrong@exhibitor magazine.com

Green Exhibiting

My company is finally taking some steps to Green its exhibit-marketing program, and I'd like our clients to know about them. However, I also don't want to overstate our efforts and be accused of Greenwashing. How do I walk a safe line between promoting our efforts and getting burned by them?

No one wants to be labeled as a Greenwasher, i.e., a company (or person) that somehow promotes or describes its Green efforts in a deceptive manner, which is meant to encourage the perception that its policies or products are eco-friendly. Once you make a deceptive Green claim, few people will ever believe your Green-related utterings again, and all of your product- or company-related claims will be looked upon with suspicion.

But don't worry; there are ways to confidently promote your Greenness without opening yourself up to potential Greenwasher labels or their negative consequences. The following tips will help you sidestep a PR nightmare, and proactively prepare for jaded journalists.

Avoid overstating your Green claims. A hybrid car might be less harmful to the environment than a Hummer, but calling it carbon neutral is an outright lie. When publicizing news of your Green efforts, opt instead for messages that promote your eco-friendly actions as comparably Greener than traditional alternatives.

Don't take any single person's Green word for granted. If the media labels you as a Greenwasher because the bamboo in your booth was grown in a pesticide-laden forest, harvested by Chinese orphans, and shipped to the United States on a pollution-spewing ship, the excuse, "My exhibit house told me it was Green," isn't going to be sufficient damage control. Since there's no industry-wide certification program for Green exhibits or materials, it's a tricky subject. But when in doubt, get a second - or third - opinion regarding any eco-related claim you intend to make.

Be wary of one-and-done efforts. It's OK to celebrate how far you've come in your efforts to go Green, but be sure to let attendees and the press know that it's just the beginning of your ongoing efforts. Otherwise, it's a little like going to the gym once and calling yourself a body builder. Going Green is an evolutionary process, and you're far less likely to be labeled a Greenwasher if you are honest about what you've done thus far, and make a commitment to doing more in the future.

Be ready for the questions that any kind of Green claim might provoke. That's not to say you need to have a Green answer for everything, but be prepared to address some of the non-Green components of your company's exhibit or practices in case a shrewd reporter digs up some nasty brown skeletons in your company's carbon closet.

Going Green isn't only good for Mother Nature; it can also improve or maintain the public's perception of your business. The fine line between being a "Greenwasher" and being "environmentally friendly" is often a matter of the way you position your efforts and even the semantics you use to describe them. These four strategies, however, will help ensure you stay on the "friendly" side of that line.

- EXHIBITOR Staff