The Two Sides global anti-greenwash campaign has reached a major milestone as 1,500 organisations worldwide remove misleading environmental claims about paper and packaging.
For more than a decade, the Two Sides anti-greenwash campaign has challenged misleading environmental claims that unfairly slander the environmental performance of paper communications and paper-based packaging. Today, the campaign has reached another milestone, with 1,500 organisations worldwide removing or amending unsubstantiated anti-paper statements following direct engagement with Two Sides.
Businesses ranging from banks and utilities to retailers and public sector organisations have increasingly used environmental messaging such as urging customers to go paperless to save a tree to encourage a switch to digital communications. While often presented as sustainability efforts, these messages frequently lack credible evidence and are primarily used to reduce operational costs rather than lower environmental impact.
Consumers do not support these forced digital switches. Data from the 2025 Two Sides Trend Tracker report shows that 56 percent of European consumers are aware that the environmental reasons given for moving to digital are dishonest and primarily motivated by cost reduction. Furthermore, 76 percent of consumers want the right to choose how they receive communications and oppose being forced into digital-only options.
While the campaign initially focused on misleading claims encouraging consumers to abandon paper communications, its scope has expanded alongside changing market trends. Increasingly, Two Sides is seeing environmental claims relating to paper-based packaging, including unsupported statements suggesting that alternative fibre materials are inherently more sustainable than paper from responsibly managed forests. As with all environmental claims, the organisation stresses that these statements should be supported by robust, independently verifiable evidence.
Misleading anti-paper messaging has real-world consequences and carries a significant economic impact. Europe’s print, paper, packaging and forestry sectors support more than 640,000 jobs across 112,000 businesses. Research commissioned by Two Sides found that greenwashing could cost the European mailing and postal sector alone more than 337 million euros annually through reduced paper volumes and declining consumer confidence.
Jonathan Tame, Managing Director of Two Sides Europe, explains that the success of this campaign demonstrates that organisations are willing to listen when presented with credible evidence. He notes that most businesses do not deliberately set out to mislead consumers. However, he emphasises that environmental claims must be based on facts, not assumptions or marketing slogans, and that suggesting digital is automatically the greener option oversimplifies a complex issue and risks undermining consumer trust.
In Europe alone, Two Sides has persuaded more than 950 organisations, including major brands like Barclays and TSB, to withdraw misleading anti-paper messaging. Tame concludes that the aim is not to criticise organisations, but to help them communicate sustainability accurately. He highlights that paper comes from a renewable resource, is highly recycled, and supports the sustainable management of millions of hectares of forest.
With environmental legislation continuing to tighten, Two Sides encourages businesses to review any communications that discourage the use of paper on environmental grounds and ensure they are supported by credible scientific evidence.
In2 Publishing joins Two Sides to promote sustainable print media