Analyzing Greenwashing

In this lesson, students analyze the concept of greenwashing of products. 

Step 1 - Inquire: Students watch videos related to greenwashing and look at examples of green products on the market.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students design a green product with a marketing campaign. 

Step 3 - Inspire: Students analyze the word choice that their peers used in their presentations of their product.

Positives

• Students create a product and then see what effect their product has on consumers. This will show students how greenwashing occurs within marketing campaigns.
• This lesson includes media literacy components.

Additional Prerequisites

• Teachers should be familiar with the term greenwashing and be able to explain what is regulated by the FDA and what is not regulated by the FDA.
• Teachers should understand the term green is not regulated by the FDA, but the term organic is regulated by the FDA.

Differentiation

• The term greenwashing is an abstract concept, so it may be hard for students to grasp. Showing other examples of greenwashing may help students better understand the concept.
• Teachers can show students different labels or advertisements and have students analyze whether they consider each example greenwashing or not.

This lesson introduces students to greenwashing and then presents Trader Joe’s as a case study. Students are tasked with designing their own green product and an accompanying marketing plan. The lesson informs students how companies can mislead them with products that only seem environmentally friendly and gives tips on how to spot greenwashing. This lesson is recommended for teaching. (The only small issue with this lesson is that an advertisement for a VPN is included in the Trader Joe’s case study video, but that's just part of using resources from YouTube.)

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.

Primary Standard

• Career Readiness, Life Literacies, & Key Skills
  • Life Literacies and Key Skills
    • 9.4.8.IML.8: Apply deliberate and thoughtful search strategies to access high-quality information on climate change (e.g., 1.1.8.C1b).