sustainwashing

English

Etymology

sustain +‎ -wash +‎ -ing, following the established pattern of greenwashing, pinkwashing, purplewashing, and similar forms (which came ultimately from the figurative-extension sense of whitewashing as "slapping a paintjob over the truth to hide it and to give a specious nice appearance"); this form also rhymes with brainwashing, as does humanewashing.

Noun

sustainwashing (uncountable)

1. (gerund counterpart to, and coeval with, the present participial verb form) The sustainability analogue of greenwashing (or subset thereof, in ecologic subsenses).

   wondering whether the advertisement's talk of sustainability might be a bit of sustainwashing

Verb

sustainwashing

1. present participle and gerund of sustainwash