Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
CSR refers to a company's efforts to take responsibility for its impact on society and the environment, beyond just making profits. It is about businesses being accountable for their actions and how they affect various stakeholders, including employees, consumers, communities, and the environment. CSR can cover a wide range of activities such as:
- Environmental initiatives: Reducing carbon footprint, recycling, using sustainable materials.
- Social impact: Supporting communities through charity work, providing fair wages, and ensuring safe working conditions.
- Ethical business practices: Transparent operations, fair trade, and avoiding corruption.
In essence, CSR is about aligning business goals with the public good.
Greenwashing
Greenwashing is the practice of companies misleadingly promoting their products, policies, or services as environmentally friendly or sustainable, when in reality, they may not be. It is a form of deception designed to capitalize on the growing demand for sustainable and eco-conscious products. A company might engage in greenwashing by:
- Exaggerating environmental benefits of a product (e.g., claiming a product is "eco-friendly" without proper certification).
- Misleading labels or vague language (e.g., using terms like "natural" or "green" without clear definitions).
- Highlighting one small environmentally-friendly aspect of a product while ignoring its overall environmental impact (e.g., using a recyclable package but manufacturing the product in a harmful way).
- Spending more on marketing the eco-friendliness of a product rather than actually implementing sustainable practices.