In 1986, ecologist Jay Westerveld coined the term greenwashing in an essay criticizing the hotel industry’s “reuse your towel” campaigns. Hotels framed these initiatives as motivated by environmental responsibility. However, Westerveld argued they were more about cost-cutting than reducing resource use. Hotels continue to whitewash their laundry cost-cutting with a green veneer and have even expanded the greenwashing by asking guests to forgo housekeeping in the name of sustainability while saving on labor costs. Likewise, greenwashing has expanded to describe a range of misleading claims, from vague sustainability commitments to outright deceptive marketing. Like Tom Sawyer tricking the neighborhood kids into whitewashing his Aunt’s Polly’s fence, greenwashing can mislead consumers into spending money on a product that doesn’t genuinely meet their ecological or social standards.
“Businesses use environmental claims as a strategy to appeal to eco-conscious consumers, but not all are genuine,” Danguole Oželienė of Vilnius University said in a press release. “Misleading claims undermine trust in genuine environmental initiatives and deter progress.”
To address greenwashing, the European Commission’s Green Claims Directive requires companies with more than ten employees and revenues exceeding EUR2 million to substantiate their environmental statements. To comply, companies must conduct assessments, often involving life-cycle analyses, to provide empirical evidence supporting their claims. These assessments should detail the specific environmental impact, demonstrate significant benefits beyond legal compliance, and ensure that the claims do not omit any negative environmental effects. Additionally, companies are required to communicate this information transparently to consumers, often through accessible means such as websites or QR codes.
Similarly, the Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) provides resources to help dog, cat and other pet food makers avoid misleading consumers about their purchases’ environmental and societal effects.
“As an example, we offer our members a Green Claims Review as a consulting project where we review their packaging, collateral, website, and social content to make recommendations on ways to avoid greenwashing,” Jim Lamancusa, PSC executive director, told Petfood Industry. “More and more of them are asking for these services as consumers become more skeptical and governments around the world are enacting anti-greenwashing legislation.”
He mentioned these 12 terms as common examples of marketing claims and explained how they can be used as greenwashing:
1. Eco-friendly – Overused without proof or certification.
2. Sustainable – Can mean anything without specifics.
3. All-natural – Many natural substances can still be harmful.
4. Green – A generic term with no standard definition.
5. Biodegradable – Doesn’t specify how long it takes or under what conditions.
6. Compostable – Often doesn’t clarify if it requires industrial composting.
7. Recyclable – May not be widely accepted in recycling facilities.
8. Carbon-neutral – Often lacks details on actual emissions reductions vs. offsets.
9. Net zero – Without transparency, this can mean offsetting without reducing emissions.
10. Clean energy – Some companies use this term while still relying on fossil fuels.
11. Ethically sourced – Needs third-party certification to be credible.
12. Responsibly made – Vague without clear labor or environmental standards.
Defining and certifying sustainability
Part of the problem with stopping greenwashing is that sustainability itself has an amorphous definition with room for interpretation. More than three decades ago, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Since that nebulous 1987 description, sustainability has come to include a wide range of specific environmental, social and economic issues. Numerous problems, ranging from existential threats to minor annoyance, now fall into a common sustainability bin. However, halting the razing of the Amazon rainforest presents far different challenges from raising Amazon.com employees’ working conditions. The multiplicity of sustainability problems makes containing them in single term difficult. For many pet owners the concept of sustainability may remain hazy, or they may think of the word in different terms pet food executives and marketers.
“Sustainability can be a catch-all term, which makes it ripe for greenwashing and has led to consumer skepticism,” Lamancusa said. “That’s why we are working with our members and the industry to follow these key points to ensure their products can be advertised as truly environmentally and socially responsible. First, be transparent and specific. Instead of using vague terms or buzzwords, companies should tell the story of their unique initiatives, such as packaging, ingredients, energy, animal welfare, or another impact area. Don’t be afraid to share your journey. None of us are perfect. Second, use 3rd party credible certifications and avoid creating your own logo or seal that will appear self-serving. Third, measure and report impact by tracking quantifiable metrics like carbon emissions, energy savings, waste reduction, etc. Use clear benchmarks like ‘reduced carbon emissions by 30% in 2024 compared to 2020 levels.’”
While setting concrete, transparent ecological and social goals helps companies avoid greenwashing, businesses also need to maintain their own financial viability. Otherwise, future generations won’t be able to meet their needs, since they won’t be able to find work.
“Ecological, social and economic sustainability are interconnected pillars of sustainability, but they focus on distinct aspects of creating a balanced, long-term approach to supporting people, the planet, and pets,”Lamancusa said. “Ecological sustainability’s focus is on protecting the environment and conserving natural resources. Social sustainability focuses on promoting human well-being, equity, and justice within and across communities. And economic sustainability focuses on creating long-term economic success that supports social and environmental goals.
“You could think about it in terms of three legs of one stool. Too often, companies focus solely on one leg, economic growth. While this leg is important, there is a risk of exploiting people and natural resources when financial gain is the only priority. When companies integrate ecological and social sustainability into their decision-making, they create a more balanced and resilient business strategy that considers long-term impacts. By integrating all three legs, companies can foster innovation, enhance brand loyalty, and build stronger relationships with stakeholders.”
To ensure that their stools have at least two strong legs, pet food companies can use independent certification programs to verify their sustainability efforts. The PSC has its own certification, PSC Accreditation, developed using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. PSC members must meet a minimum score on the certification’s Action Manager Assessment. Companies must also show improvement in the scores every two years.
“Currently 77 of our 200 members have achieved this Accreditation!” Lamancusa said.
He also noted nine other certifications that pet food companies can achieve to prove their sustainability efforts:
1. B Corp Certification – For businesses meeting high social and environmental performance standards.
2. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) – Certification for sustainable buildings and infrastructure.
3. Cradle to Cradle Certified – Focuses on circular economy principles for products.
4. Climate Neutral Certified – Verifies that a company measures, reduces, and offsets its carbon footprint.
5. USDA Organic – Ensures organic farming practices without synthetic pesticides and GMOs.
6. Fair Trade Certified – Ensures ethical labor and sustainable sourcing.
7. Rainforest Alliance Certified – Focuses on responsible agriculture, forestry, and business practices.
8. Non-GMO Project Verified – Ensures products are free from genetically modified organisms.
9. Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) – The highest standard for soil health, animal welfare, and fair labor.
Partnering for sustainability in the pet food industry
Along with guidance from the PSC, pet food makers can partner with other companies in the agriculture and food production arenas to leverage sustainability strengths. For example, in 2024, Mars formed partnerships aimed at scaling regenerative agriculture practices across its European pet nutrition supply chain. The multiyear collaborations involve suppliers like Cargill and ADM, as well as technical experts Biospheres, Horta, Agreena and Soil Capital. In North America, Mars also announced collaborations to provide financial incentives for wheat, corn and rice to adopt regenerative agriculture practices. Multiyear partnerships have begun with partners and suppliers including ADM, The Andersons, Riceland Foods, and Soil and Water Outcomes Fund, led by Royal Canin USA and Mars Petcare US.
“Our recent regenerative agriculture partnerships allow us to do both. Working with partners like ADM allows us to source important raw materials to provide individualized nutrition for cats and dogs and do so while also managing our carbon footprint,” Racquel White, vice president of corporate affairs for Royal Canin North America, told Petfood Industry.
Mars Petcare will use certifications to back up its sustainability claims about regenerative agriculture.
“For example, the USDA COMET Planner and the Field-to-Market Fieldprint Platform are used to track and quantify outcomes such as carbon sequestration, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and improvements in soil health. These tools integrate data from individual farms to provide transparent and reliable metrics that verify the environmental benefits of regenerative practices.
Certification programs, such as those from Field to Market, further validate these outcomes by assessing the sustainability performance of supply chains and providing third-party verification,” John Grossmann, president of North American Oilseeds Crush and Grain for ADM told Petfood Industry. “These systems ensure that regenerative practices are scientifically grounded, widely adoptable and impactful at scale. By combining technology and certification, Mars and Royal Canin can credibly claim that their ingredients meet high environmental and ethical standards, enhancing trust with consumers and stakeholders alike.”
By using certification systems and avoiding greenwashing, Mars Petcare and others in the industry can build credibility among pet owners who increasingly demand that companies consider their actions’ environmental and social ramifications.