This summer I read a post on Reddit where someone declared that they only shopped from B Corps because then they knew they were making the most ethical/sustainable choice…and within minutes, the algorithm showed me an article about how fast fashion brand Princess Polly had just attained B Corp certification. The intellectual whiplash was intense!! That contradiction tells you almost everything you need to know about where B Corp certification is right now. And p.s. fast fashion will never be sustainable!

So what is B Corp certification?

B Corp certification is another creation of the brand with a “mission” era of the late 2000s/early 2010s. Certification is granted by a nonprofit organization called B Lab, which was founded in 2006. And for a long time, it really stood for something because it meant that companies met verified standards of social and environmental responsibility, accountability, and transparency.

To be certified, companies must:

• Score 80+ points on B Lab’s self-administered assessment
• Meet standards for social & environmental impact
• Legally consider stakeholders beyond shareholders

In theory: all good things. And really, it SHOULD be the standard for ALL businesses.

Earlier this year, Dr. Bronner’s made headlines by releasing a statement explaining why it would not be renewing its B Corp certification.

From the statement:

“The integrity of the B Corp Certification has become compromised and remaining certified now contradicts our mission.

The increasing certification of multinationals including Unilever Australia and Nespresso in 2022 followed by Nestle Health Sciences in 2023 demonstrated that B Lab is not committed to protecting the integrity of the B Corp Certification and movement, nor ensuring that the certification won’t be used to mislead consumers.”

This was not completely a surprise to B Lab, because Dr Bronner’s (along with a long list of other B Corps) had published an open letter expressing concerns about B Lab certifying companies that were highly problematic from both an ethical and environmental perspective.

That letter called out why granting B Corp certification to Nespresso was a major problem…

From the letter:

“Nespresso’s abysmal track record on human rights from child labor and wage theft to abuse of factory workers is well documented by the media and NGOs. Nespresso’s extractive business model is publicly known to be fundamentally at odds with the ethical and just future B Corps want to build and should have structurally been a barrier to Nespresso’s B Corp Certification.”

Essentially: if a company like Nespresso could score highly enough to become a B Corp, then the certification process (which is self-administered) was in need of serious repair.

The signers were also concerned about a company that makes most of its revenue from selling single use coffee pods.

Unpacking why Nespresso receiving B Corp certification is kinda weird…

First things first: Nespresso is owned by Nestle, a horrible company. Since the 1970s, Nestle has been involved in the following:

• forced labor & child labor
• union busting
• preventing access to non-bottled water in countries that cannot afford bottled water
• illegal water-pumping from drought-stricken Native American reservations
• price fixing
• deforestation
• lobbying to support misinformation about infant nutrition. And oh yeah, spreading misinformation about recycling, too.

This raises the question: This raises the question: should a brand or subsidiary owned by a terrible company still be eligible for B Corp certification? And P.S. Nestle Health Sciences is also B Corp certified. 

But even if we take Nestle out of the equation, Nespresso is still really shady!

• In 2020, an investigation by Britain’s Channel 4 (part of a documentary called Starbucks & Nespresso: The Truth About Your Coffee uncovered instances of child labor on coffee farms in Guatemala that allegedly supplied Nespresso.
• Despite Nespresso’s greenwashing claims otherwise, most of its single use aluminum coffee pods are going to the landfill. Per Nespresso itself, only about a ⅓ of their coffee pods are ever recycled. And that number has not been independently verified by anyone. Other experts think the recycling rate is actually more like 5%!
• To put this into perspective, a 2020 Guardian article calculated “with a conservative estimate of 14 billion capsules being sold each year, and 0.9 grams of aluminium per capsule, that means 12,600 tonnes of Nespresso aluminium end up in landfill annually, enough for 60 Statues of Liberty.”

Nespresso is the most controversial company to receive B Corp status, but B Lab has also given that certification to a literal fast fashion company (Princess Polly)…and several MLMs (including Arbonne).

These controversial choices reveal shortcomings in B Lab’s certification process!

• Self-assessment allows for spin: Companies grade themselves, spotlighting small wins while avoiding bigger systemic problems.
• Too easy to game the system: Companies can offset major issues (child labor) with strong scores in other areas (like offering a wellness plan for corporate employees).
• Snapshot scoring: Scores are updated every three years, leaving plenty of time for sketchy behavior in between.
• No independent oversight: B Lab isn’t third-party accredited, raising concerns about consistency and accountability.
• Perfect for greenwashing: The label creates instant trust, even when the rest of the business model is deeply flawed.
• Losing certification has no real consequences: And why would a company lose its certification when it’s grading itself?

So are B Corps more sustainable & ethical?

It’s complicated? Yes, there are incredible B Corps doing the work for real. And many other amazing, ethical companies don’t pursue certification because it’s expensive, time-consuming, and intense.

In 2018, I worked with a client on their B Corp certification. Everything had to be documented, from the kinds of towels being used to clean the bathroom to pay structures. This company was already super sustainability minded, but even they had to make some changes to get the certification. And they were paying me and other staff members to work on the self assessment, which took months. That work cost the company money! Most small ethical brands don’t have that kind of cash.

Whether its Nespresso and its B Corp certification, feminist tees with a giveback, or even asking to round up your purchase at Petco…the intention is always clear: creating more good vibes with customers, in hopes of getting access to someone’s wallet. And you know what? It works!

Although maybe now, it’s starting to lose its luster? Like a lot of things we talk about here on Clotheshorse, most people don’t really know about greenwashing. There’s no shame in being sort of beguiled by greenwashing…because it’s a proven technique for marketing a brand! And for those of us who know the full story, it’s kinda our job to share what we know with others. So get out there and tell people about it!

LEARN MORE!

• Dr. Bronner’s Statement on Dropping B Corp Certification
• “The B Corp Standard is at Risk” and “Nespresso: Known for Human Rights Violations, Now B Corp Certified,” Fair World Project.
• “How Nespresso’s coffee revolution got ground down,” Ed Cumming, The Guardian.
• “Princess Polly May Be B Corp – But Are They Sustainable?,” Lucy Siegle, Marie Claire UK

And listen to episode 241 of the podcast, part 3 in the “I’m with the brand” series.