1. Greenwashing Literacy Kevin J. Hwang

2. Objectives  At the end of this module, students will be able to:  Explain what greenwashing is  Identify some ways that companies and other organizations can greenwash

3. Procedure Overview  Students will:  be introduced to greenwashing  work in groups to create their own greenwashing ads  identify the ways that other students greenwashed in their ads.

4. Introducing greenwashing  Students will be introduced to the concept of “greenwashing.”  Greenwashing – “when a company or organization spends more time and money claiming to be ‘green’ through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact.” [1]  Students will be shown example of real-world ads that greenwash.

5. Designing an advertisement  Students will be broken up into groups, and each group will be assigned a “greenwashing” scenario.  Each group will act as a public relations firm and brainstorm ways to achieve the greenwashing goals of the companies in their given scenarios.  Each group will create an advertisement in the form of a flyer.

6. Example scenario  Hotel 12 is a hotel chain located in southwest United States.  It would like to advertise itself as having new environment-friendly programs.  It has no plans to make any major investments on its infrastructure. It would also prefer to not reduce its water or electricity usage.  How can you advertise a program that makes Hotel 12 appear more environmentally-friendly without any significant costs for the company?

7. Example Solution  Hotel 12 can implement a new energy-saving program.  Guests can choose to reuse towels and bed sheets if they are staying multiple nights.

8. Identifying greenwashing  Groups will present their ads to the class.  The class as a whole will try to identify how the group greenwashed in their ads.  If needed, the groups will explain.