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How to Avoid Greenwashing: 10 Tips For Crafting Transparent Messages

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Imagine going to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant. You order your favorite dishes, and choose a nice bottle of fine wine to go with them. You’re super excited, and can’t wait to experience the combination of skillful cooking and quality ingredients. 

Then your food arrives, and although it is presented on fancy plates, you can quickly tell that the food is microwaved from frozen, and the wine is from the supermarket bottom shelf. Sounds pretty disappointing doesn’t it? 

Well, that’s the kind of disappointment that greenwashing can cause; for consumers, and for the planet. 

If you’ve never heard the term before, in a nutshell, greenwashing is when a company falsely presents itself as environmentally friendly, often to mislead consumers. An example could be — 
a company labeling a plastic product as ‘biodegradable’, but in reality, the product only breaks down under specific industrial conditions, unavailable in most places.

In this case, the eco-conscious consumer is led to believe that once they’re finished with the product, they can throw it in the compost and it will return safely back to the earth, pollution-free. If they were to eventually find out the truth; that they have unwillingly contributed to plastic pollution, no doubt they would feel disappointed. And probably a little angry. 

And we don’t want to bring any disappointment or anger into the world do we!? We want to bring love, excitement, and satisfaction. And honesty! 

So to help you do just that, we’ve created this article to give you tips on how to avoid greenwashing.

Before we get into those though, let’s take a deeper look at the risks of greenwashing.

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How to Communicate Sustainability Through Different Communication Channels

Did you ever hear the story about the Zebra who saved the world? 

(Her name was Zoe; Zoe the Zebra. She always wore a beautiful black and white coat. And one day, she saved the world from a catastrophic asteroid impact by swatting the asteroid back into space with said coat, before it made contact with the Earth). 

You’ve probably never heard this story before, because the thing is, Zoe never told anyone about it. Apart from us here at Dazzle of course. (Click here if you want to learn about how ‘Zebra’ companies are helping to save the world, and how Dazzle is helping to facilitate that). 

And at Dazzle, we’re here to tell you, don’t be like Zoe! If you’re a bit of a Zebra yourself — a company that balances profit-making with positive social and environmental impact — you should absolutely be telling people about your sustainability initiatives! 

In fact, it is only through effective sustainability communications that you can extract maximum value from your sustainability efforts. To be seen as a sustainability leader within your industry, people need to know about all the great things you are doing.

To make sure they do know, you will likely have to use a multichannel communication strategy. In this article, we explain how to communicate sustainability in this way effectively, by utilizing each communication channel to its full potential.

Close up of a Zebra's face.

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Developing a Sustainability Communications Strategy: 10 Key Things to Consider

We don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that sustainability has never been more important. Both from a taking care of the planet perspective, and from a long-term business success perspective. 

More than ever, customers, employees, and investors expect companies to demonstrate a genuine commitment to sustainability. Fail to do that today, and those customers, employees, and investors are likely to focus their attention elsewhere. 

But here’s the thing; committing to sustainability by implementing sustainable practices is only really half the battle. You also need an effective sustainability communications strategy if you want your key stakeholders to know about, and react positively to those practices. 

You can be the most sustainable company in the world, but if you don’t manage to tell anybody about it, you won’t reap all the benefits you deserve. Benefits like improved brand image, increased customer loyalty, and recognition as a sustainability leader within your industry.

Well we think you should reap those benefits, because good things should happen to good people, and to good companies! To help make that happen, in this article we offer our best advice about how to communicate sustainability. 

By considering the following key points, you can create a sustainability communications strategy that turns your good sustainability deeds into a real competitive advantage. 

Overhead view of office workers sitting at desk with laptops and various business strategy charts.

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The Role and Impact of a Sustainability Manager: Everything You Need to Know

Gone are the days when having a sustainability manager was optional. (We don’t think we should call them the good old days. Sustainability managers are great; today is the good old days!) (Or the green new days?)

In fact, today, as the sustainability landscape grows ever more complex, it is increasingly the case that one sustainability manager is not even enough.

To become a sustainability leader — and effectively integrate new sustainability elements like the CSRD or ESPR — companies must carefully implement a sustainability management structure that covers all bases. 

If you are in the process of putting such a structure in place, you’ve probably realized a few things. There are loads of different types of sustainability managers! Finding the right combination can be confusing and difficult! Even if you know what sustainability managers you want to hire, finding suitable candidates can be nearly impossible! 

We hear you, but there’s no need to worry. That’s exactly why we’ve created this comprehensive article. Keep reading, and you will learn everything you need to know about sustainability managers. Including key info about:

– What is a sustainability manager? 
– What does a sustainability manager do?
– Why you should hire a sustainability manager.
– How to choose the right sustainability manager for your business. 
– What is an interim sustainability manager?
– Advantages of hiring an interim sustainability manager. 
– Interim sustainability manager success stories. 
– How Dazzle can help you find your perfect interim sustainability manager. 

By following this guide, you’ll be able to implement the perfect sustainability management structure (and become a sustainability leader) in no time. 

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Interim Sustainability Manager Success Story: USPA Global Licensing

We love a success story here at Dazzle, and fortunately, they seem to just keep on coming. (Probably because we extensively screen all of our sustainability freelancers, so we only work with the very best!).

Our latest tale of sustainability satisfaction involves one fantastic Dazzle interim sustainability manager, and one fantastic client; The U.S. Polo Assn (USPA). 

Put the two together, and boom! You’ve got nothing but great results all around. 

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6 Advantages of Hiring an Interim Sustainability Manager

Not too long ago, the question of whether or not to hire a dedicated sustainability manager was a valid one. 

But today, for any company interested in long-term success, the question isn’t whether or not they should hire a sustainability manager. Instead, companies need to decide what kind of sustainability management structure they should put in place. 

Because sustainability is expected now, by stakeholders, and by law (did somebody say CSRD!?). And as it has grown more complex in recent years, so has the process of managing it. 

Many different types of sustainability managers now exist, each focusing on different aspects of sustainability. Energy managers for example focus on optimizing energy usage, sustainable product managers focus on developing sustainable products, and so on. 

The particular blend of sustainability managers a company chooses will depend on their particular situation. But for companies of all shapes and sizes, and sustainability managers of all types, the interim option is rapidly growing in popularity. 

Many companies are now choosing to hire interim sustainability managers, as they offer the same expertise as full-time managers, but with several added benefits.

Office workers sitting around table and celebrating by fist bumping each other.

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What is an Interim Sustainability Manager?

We’ve probably all noticed that in recent years, sustainability has simultaneously become more complex, and more important. 

New legislation like the CSRD, CSDDD, Green Claims Directive, and others have added to the sustainability challenge, while also essentially making sustainability a legal requirement. 

To rise to this double-barreled challenge (sustainably produced barrels of course!), putting the right sustainability management structure in place is essential. 

And we do mean structure. To cover the vast sustainability landscape that exists today, many different types of sustainability managers are usually required. The exact combination you choose to put in place depends on your company’s particular circumstances. 

Whatever manager types you need though, hiring them on an interim basis could be the best option for you. Interim sustainability managers have become very popular lately across numerous industries due to the added advantages they offer. 

But what are we talking about exactly, when we say interim sustainability manager? 

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Why You Should Hire a Sustainability Manager

How important is it today for organizations to embrace sustainability? And we mean really embrace it, by making it a core aspect of the long-term business strategy? 

If your answer to that question isn’t something along the lines of ‘very important indeed’, it’s possible that you might need to rethink things. 

Because for a while now, customers, employees, investors, and other key stakeholders have been demanding strong sustainability performance from companies. Making it a crucial contributor to business success. While recently, legislation such as the CSRD and Green Claims Directive have essentially made sustainability a legal requirement. 

With all this in mind, it makes sense for companies to hire someone who can manage sustainability-related issues and initiatives. In fact, sustainability has now become so simultaneously important and challenging, that many companies appoint several specialists to manage it.

As we will explore later in this article, many different types of sustainability manager exist. Each type focuses on optimizing particular aspects of sustainability within an organization. Choosing which one(s) you should hire depends on your unique circumstances. And we will offer our advice about that soon. 

But first, let’s consider the general benefits that all sustainability managers can offer.

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What Does a Sustainability Manager Do?: Understanding the Role

There was a time not too long ago when understanding the ‘sustainability manager’ role was quite straightforward. What did every sustainability manager do? Well, they managed an organization’s sustainability efforts of course. 

This was true maybe 20 years ago, back when sustainability was more of a box-ticking exercise than a strategic necessity. 

Today though, sustainability simply has to be at the core of any successful long-term business strategy. At the same time, the sustainability landscape has grown so complex that it is now very difficult for one person to manage every aspect of it. 

So basically, strategically embracing sustainability is now entirely crucial, and more challenging than ever. 

The result of all this; the sustainability manager role has become diversified. Many different types of sustainability manager exist, and having the right combination in place is pivotal for business success. 

What does a sustainability manager do, you ask? 

Right now, the answer to that is, lots of things! 

(Lots of necessary things, as you’ll find in the next section). 

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