Anti-greenwashing law stopped? What does this mean for watches and jewellery?
Anti-greenwashing law stopped? What does this mean for watches and jewellery?
The EU Commission was in the process of adopting a new environmental law to protect consumers against greenwashing. Now the proposed law has been stopped shortly before it was due to be passed. What does this mean and how can you actually protect yourself from greenwashing when buying jewellery and watches?
Left: Sustainability, for the sake of the environment. An EU law against greenwashing has been put on ice (for now). © Noah Buscher/ Unsplash.com
Penalties for false environmental marketing
Greenwashing is when a company advertises environmentally friendly, resource-saving or low-emission production, even though this is not the case. This is definitely worth being regulated and penalised by official laws, as it would protect us as consumers from being taken in by false claims or meaningless seals of approval in the future.
It would therefore be welcome if we had such a law in the EU. The need is there. A study by the EU authority in 2020 found that more than half of the claims made for goods included misleading, vague or unfounded information on climate and environmental friendliness.
Environmental law on ice?
Now the anti-greenwashing law will not materialise for the time being. There are no more precise details, but critics of the current, rejected draft law claim that it was drafted too quickly and does not take into account some of the consequences of the law. In addition, the environmental law is said to entail a great deal of bureaucracy, which could place a heavy burden on small organisations in particular. Can it really be that difficult to check whether a green environmental label is rightly displayed on a product or not?
We can only hope that there is something to the arguments against the quick adoption and that we will soon get a better, reformed law. And in the meantime, how do we deal with our own consumption if there is currently less consumer protection?
The trap of feel-good marketing
Good marketing has incredible power. It is therefore not surprising that the first marketing specialists came from the field of psychology. Products should make us more beautiful, more successful, more self-confident, more attractive, happier. This applies directly or indirectly to almost everything, from crockery in the kitchen and new shoes to perfume and cars.
The need to treat ourselves to something nice is great and because the desire for a certain thing exists, we all too easily believe the promises made in adverts. Although we should actually know that it is not possible to produce a mass product under such circumstances, we still like to believe that every loaf of bread has been baked with love, every chicken that lays our eggs is walking peacefully across a green meadow and that workers in coffee and cocoa plantations are still enjoying the beautiful weather alongside their work.
Of course, this is all a bit exaggerated - but at its core it's true. Pictures of grandma's bakery, quotes from friendly, nodding dentists (thanks to a dedicated actor) and green environmental labels give us a cosy, warm feeling. We wish it were true and are happy to be lulled by it. We would always like the world to be a nice place where everything is fair and sustainable, and we don't allow ourselves to scrutinise this. "It'll be true", we secretly think to ourselves - and the issue is settled.
Sustainability is a real luxury
At INSIGHT LUXURY, we think about what luxury actually is on an almost daily basis. It quickly becomes clear that sustainability is also a real luxury - and very closely linked to the time factor.
The calculation is basically simple: if you want to produce more, you have to shorten the time in which the product is created. As a result, more and more machines and fewer and fewer people are being used, raw materials for the product are no longer produced in-house but purchased - and these are often produced in countries where people are still working on them, and very quickly too, because laws for the protection and health of people may not apply there as they do here.
Time is a factor that automatically generates luxury, because when applied to jewellery or watches - and now we are finally back on topic - this would mean: Spending time to find materials that have been ethically produced. Ethically produced materials also need time: time for breaks for the workers, time to treat nature with care, time for quality control.
Time also flows into training, expertise, space to develop without pressure and stress, time to rectify errors, time to check and monitor. And staff who work carefully and error-free should also be paid fairly....
If a company took this time in every step of production or gave employees in the value chain this time, costs would be much higher and profits lower. Of course, this is a thorn in the side of many, but companies still want to give the impression of fairness and sustainability. That's why it makes sense to simply cheat a little in certain areas. Unfortunately, when, where and how much cheating takes place is and remains totally opaque in many situations. As an individual, you have virtually no chance of uncovering cheating. However, a law would make it possible for certain organisations and departments.
In the jewellery industry, this primarily concerns two topics: recycled or fair gold and synthetic diamonds. Companies that work with these materials naturally also market themselves with arguments of sustainability and ethically unencumbered production. The extent to which these claims are always correct is difficult to understand at the moment.
In the world of watches, on the other hand, materials such as ocean plastic or vegan leather are often used - the resulting reduced carbon footprint is of course something people would like to be able to understand. Watches can also contain synthetic diamonds, and watch cases and straps are also made from recycled steel or wood - also factors that are naturally good for green marketing - provided it is correct.
Rules of thumb for sustainable consumption
There are also a few rules of thumb that are certainly well known, but which you should remember from time to time:
- Local and small businesses often have a less complex and therefore more transparent supply chain. This means that buying from a jeweller, goldsmith or watchmaker is always the better choice
- Personal contact creates more trust. If the product is worthy of criticism, it is not so easy to hide behind a press spokesperson.
- High-quality jewellery and watches are often more durable and therefore more sustainable because they can be easily repaired
- There is a second-hand market for both watches and jewellery - especially watches can be found under the keyword CPO - certified pre-owned. Family-owned jewellery can be reconditioned or refurbished. Auctions through renowned auction houses such as Eppli in Germany or Dorotheum in Austria offer a selection for treasure hunters
- Jewellery in Germany and Austria is often made from certified recycled gold; if you ask your jeweller, you can easily find out where it comes from
Jewellery and watches are expensive because they are one of the few products that we can still afford in our everyday lives, in which a great deal of time and effort has been invested according to the criteria mentioned above. This is particularly true of custom-made jewellery from goldsmiths and jewellers' own collections. The path to a sustainable product usually leads via bricks-and-mortar retailers rather than online retailers, as traceability is rather difficult here too.
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Sustainability is a process
To conclude, sustainability is also a process and sustainability exists on a spectrum. Perfection is generally difficult to achieve in life, but it is good to see companies endeavouring to improve year after year. After all, the world doesn't stand still. There is no status quo and we are constantly receiving new findings from research and industry on how to make processes more environmentally friendly.
That is why it is ultimately up to individual judgement to decide whether a company is already on the right track and has earned trust or whether it still has a long way to go. If sustainability is particularly important to you, there is only one thing you can do in case of doubt: not consume at all.
