How to avoid the dangers of greenwashing

Given the high financial costs, it's critical for diamond brands to help consumers discern between what's green and what's greenwashing

Diamonds have always been an enduring symbol of love and commitment this has made them a popular investment through the ages. Today, however, taking into consideration the fast growing fashion of laboratory-grown diamonds, it's important for consumers to research before buying. This will give them a clear and informed choice as to what they are purchasing laboratory-grown or naturally sourced diamonds.

In a recent McKinsey survey 60% of consumers said that they would pay more for products with sustainable packaging; for millennials and Gen Zs, the percentage was even higher.

However, what most consumers do not know or realise is that a steep cost of going green is 'greenwashing': brands using misinformation or bad data to mislead consumers about their environmentalism.

Organisations that resort to greenwashing risk reputational damage among customers who have paid a premium for what has turned out to be a false sense of sustainability, literally buying into environmentalist myths.

THE MYTHS VERSUS THE FACTS

Given the high financial and emotional costs, it's critical for diamond brands to help consumers discern between what's green and what's greenwashing. And laboratorygrown diamonds might not all be as environmentally or socially friendly as they seem.

Any misperception that laboratory-grown diamonds are generally more sustainable than naturally sourced. diamonds can be costly-both to the planet and to consumers' wallets.

The laboratory-grown diamond sector bears similarities to the fast fashion industry, whose inexpensive, mass-produced, rapidly depreciating styles may conceal resource-intensive production costs. Like fast fashion, laboratory-grown diamonds can be made in weeks, or even days, and in unlimited quantities in contrast to natural diamonds, a product in finite supply that takes billions of years to form.