Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS, Coke and IKEA Accused of ‘Greenwashing’
SKIMS, Coca-Cola, Unilever and IKEA have been accused of “greenwashing” by an environmental campaign group, falsely advertising being environmentally friendly. The Changing Markets Foundation (CMF) claimed the firms’ products, initiatives…
Kim Kardashian attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. Coca Cola products are displayed in a cooler at a convenience store April 16, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Atlanta-based Coca Cola reported today that profits for the first quarter increased 19 percent to $1.50 billion, or 64 cents a share compared to $1.26 billion, or 54 cents a share a year ago. An Ikea store is pictured as customers await opening on June 01, 2020 in Reading, United Kingdom. The exterior of an IKEA store is shown December 4, 2002 in Delft, the Netherlands. All 10 stores of the furniture retailing giant in the Netherlands were closed after explosives were found December 4 in IKEA stores in Amsterdam and Sliedrecht, the Netherlands.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue/Justin Sullivan/Michel Porro/Getty ImagesSKIMS, Coca-Cola, Unilever and IKEA have been accused of "greenwashing" by an environmental campaign group, falsely advertising being environmentally friendly.
The Changing Markets Foundation (CMF) claimed the firms’ products, initiatives and advertising obscure the real impact of plastic from consumers.
Coca-Cola has spent millions in advertising telling consumers that some of its bottles are made out of 25 percent marine plastic while failing to mention that it is the world’s biggest plastic polluter, the CMF alleged. Per the Independent, a Coca-Cola spokesperson said, “We don’t want to see any of our packaging end up where it shouldn’t and we are working hard to be part of the solution. Today, all of our bottles in Great Britain are 100% recyclable and we aim to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one we sell by 2030 globally."
George Harding-Rolls, campaign manager at CMF, said, “Our latest investigation exposes a litany of misleading and mendacious claims from household names consumers should be able to trust. This is just the tip of the iceberg and it is of crucial importance that regulators take this issue seriously. The industry is happy to gloat its green credentials with little substance on the one hand while continuing to perpetuate the plastic crisis on the other.”
He added, “We are calling out greenwashing so the world can see that voluntary action has led to a market saturated with false claims. We must embrace systemic solutions, such as absolute reductions in plastic packaging and mandatory deposit return systems.”
Other companies accused of greenwashing include IKEA and Kim Kardashian’s shapewear and clothing brand, SKIMS. SKIMS has compostable underwear packaging claiming "I AM NOT PLASTIC" despite the small print stating it is plastic-type 4 or LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene).
