Cleanwashing Vs. Greenwashing

Cleanwashed vs. Greenwashed 
Let’s talk about it. 

You’ll often see the term “greenwashed/greenwashing” used in the non toxic community. 
It’s often used to say that a brand or product that claims to be “natural” “non toxic” “clean” is actually not natural, nontoxic, clean. 

Greenwashing actually doesn’t really have anything to do with that. There are some adjacent meanings that could be linked to ingredients being non toxic BUT it’s lacking when you find that some ingredients that aren’t clean are actually find for the environment. 

Greenwashing actually has to do with the environment and whether or not a brand is environmentally friendly and produces/uses ingredients that aren’t harmful to the environment. 

“Definition: 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 can have some ties to clean living and ingredients.  A lot of time sustainability and environmentally friendly are related to toxin free living. 

However as said above; some ingredients that are fine environmentally may still not be clean. 

Cleanwashing is a newer term gaining more traction which doesnt have a definitive definition and actually based off the creation of the word encompasses more of what brands are doing when they state that their products are toxin free, clean, or natural but actually aren’t. 

Some brands can be both greenwashed and cleanwashed. 

So if you see us using the word “cleanwashed” over “greenwashed” now you know why we’re trying to use the words in their appropriate contexts. 🌱