Sustainability Story & Claims
Tell a credible sustainability story without greenwashing.
What is the Sustainability Story & Claims?
The Sustainability Story & Claims skill is a free AI skill that helps food and beverage brands tell a credible sustainability story without straying into greenwashing. You give it your product, the genuine sustainability actions and proof you have, and your audience; it returns a structured story — the honest narrative your evidence can support, a hierarchy of claims from hero to supporting, the language to use and avoid, and a clear flag on any claim that is vague, unsubstantiated, or likely to need verification before it goes public. It is built for brand, marketing, and insights teams under pressure to communicate sustainability while regulators and consumers grow less forgiving of empty claims. Rather than aspirational fluff, it ties every message to a specific proof point and calls out the ones you can't yet back. It does not certify claims — it flags risk so you route them to the right experts. Pair it with real consumer data so the story leads with the sustainability angles your shoppers actually care about.
Who it's for
- Brand and marketing teams communicating sustainability
- Insights teams identifying which green angles matter to shoppers
- Packaging teams drafting on-pack sustainability copy
- Founders telling a mission-led product story
What you get
- An honest narrative your evidence supports
- A claim hierarchy (hero, supporting, proof)
- Language to use — and vague terms to avoid
- Greenwashing risk flags on weak claims
- Guidance on what to substantiate before going public
- Audience-relevant angles to lead with
How to use it
- 1Paste the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
- 2List your genuine sustainability actions and the proof you hold.
- 3Answer its clarifying questions.
- 4Route flagged claims to regulatory / sustainability experts before publishing.
See it in action
Example input
Product: fictional 'Riverbend' granola. What we actually have: 80% recyclable packaging (working toward 100%), regeneratively-farmed oats from named partner farms, and a carbon-reduction goal for 2030. Audience: eco-conscious millennials. We want to lead our packaging refresh with sustainability.
Example output
Sustainability story — Riverbend granola The honest narrative (what your proof supports): Riverbend is on a credible journey: regeneratively-farmed oats today, packaging that's 80% recyclable and improving, and a 2030 carbon goal. Lead with what's real NOW (farming + current packaging), framed as progress, not perfection. Claim hierarchy: - Hero (strongest, provable): "Made with regeneratively-farmed oats from our partner farms." (Concrete, verifiable, differentiating.) - Supporting: "Packaging now 80% recyclable — and we're working toward 100%." (Honest about the gap.) - Proof / RTB: name the farms or the practice; cite the recyclability figure; link to a progress page. Language to use: - Specific, present-tense, evidence-backed: "regeneratively farmed," "80% recyclable," "partner farms." Language to avoid (greenwashing risk): - "Eco-friendly," "green," "sustainable" used bare — vague, unprovable, increasingly scrutinized. - "100% recyclable" — NOT yet true; don't claim it. - "Carbon neutral" — your 2030 goal is a target, not a current state; say "working toward," never imply it's done. Greenwashing flags (substantiate or cut): - The 2030 carbon goal: communicate as an aspiration with a date, never as an achieved claim. - "Regenerative" — confirm it meets a definition or standard you can point to. - Recyclability: "80%" needs a clear basis (by weight? which components?) and may vary by local facilities — qualify it. Audience lead: Eco-conscious millennials respond to specifics and honesty about the journey more than to claims of perfection. Lead the refresh with the regenerative-farming story; treat packaging as "improving," not "solved." Route to experts: Have regulatory / sustainability confirm the recyclability basis, the regenerative claim, and any carbon language before print. Want on-pack copy options and a "our progress" page outline that frames the journey honestly?
The prompt
Here's the start of the prompt. Download the free bundle for the full, ready-to-paste version — plus the installable Claude Skill and Custom-GPT instructions.
# Role You are a food & beverage sustainability communications strategist. You build credible sustainability stories tied to real proof, and you are vigilant about greenwashing — you flag vague or unsubstantiated claims rather than polishing them. # Context I'll provide - Product: [PRODUCT] - Genuine sustainability actions + the proof I hold: [ACTIONS / EVIDENCE] - Audience: [AUDIENCE] - Goals or targets (and whether achieved or aspirational): [GOALS] - Market / region (optional, for regulatory awareness): [MARKET] # Your task 1. If the product, your actual actions/proof, or the audience is missing, ask up to 3 clarifying questions first.
Frequently asked questions
- What is greenwashing and how does this avoid it?
- Greenwashing is making vague, exaggerated, or unsubstantiated environmental claims. This skill avoids it by tying every claim to a specific proof point, separating achieved facts from aspirational goals, and banning bare buzzwords like 'eco-friendly' unless they're substantiated. It flags weak claims to cut or verify rather than helping you phrase around the gaps.
- Can I claim my 2030 carbon goal now?
- No — and the skill is explicit about this. A future target must be communicated as an aspiration with a date ('working toward net zero by 2030'), never phrased so it reads as something you've already achieved. Conflating a goal with a current state is one of the most common and most penalized forms of greenwashing.
- Does it guarantee my claims are compliant?
- No. It flags which claims need substantiation and qualification — recyclability basis, 'regenerative' definitions, carbon language — and tells you to confirm them with regulatory and sustainability experts. Environmental-claims rules are tightening and vary by market, so the skill structures an honest story but your experts verify it before it's public.
- How do I know which sustainability angle to lead with?
- Lead with what's both genuinely provable and relevant to your audience. The skill prioritizes your strongest verifiable claim as the hero and frames the rest as honest progress. Grounding it in real consumer data shows which sustainability angles your shoppers actually care about, so you emphasize the ones that move them rather than every initiative equally.
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