Ethical Business Guide Denounces Greenwashing

The Ethical Business Guide produced by Kim Stoddart and Tor Goldfield of ethical PR company BlueRocket, advising businesses starting out in the ethical realm, has suggested that people are warming to ethical businesses due to mistrust of traditional business practices and criticises greenwashing, saying
“The public has become weary of grand claims, which can, when investigated further, amount to little more than fancy marketing. So it is essential that any claims a company makes can stand the test of time.”

Advice given to businesses wishes to ‘go ethical’ includes:

• Developing a formal ethicals policy.
• Identifying the core values of the business and consulting employees and stakeholders about this.
• Embedding the ethics policy so it is communicated to everyone within the organisation.
• Appointing an ‘ethics’ champion to ensure the company’s ethical standards are being met.
• Ethical marketing - which the report identifies as “an honest and factual representation of a product or service that offers clear cultural or social values to the customer.” Bold statements that do not live up to their promises, it says, may damage the brand’s reputation.
• Vet suppliers to ensure the materials they are offering are as environmentally and socially responsible as possible.
• Being transparent about activities and use environmentally friendly marketing materials, such as recycled paper.
• Ethical banking - to avoid the lending of your money by banks to undesirable organisations, such as arms dealers, or companies involved in the production or extraction of fossil fuels.
• Looking after employees and offering incentive reward programmes.
• Being an ethical energy user by monitoring energy usage, setting clear goals to reduce usage, appointing energy ambassadors and switching to a green energy supplier.
• Establishing the right relationship with clients.
• Being committed to community interests by, for instance, providing employment for disadvantaged people.
• Adapting to a low-carbon future.

The guide is free to download at www.bluerocketgroup.com.