Greenwashing, Are You Being Mislead?

More and more of us value organic products or green products. We will choose them over other products whenever we can. But of course the manufacturers have caught on to this and they are now trying to trick us into thinking that their product is organic or green while it is not. I have talked about the  cosmetics industry several times and how a skin care products can be labeled “organic” but when you  turn the bottle around and read the small print you find out that the product contains less than 10% organic ingredients and the rest is just as toxic as an other product. The choices of really good natural and organic skin care products is very limited.

In ONEgourps latest organic newsletter they talk about green washing.  The act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

The North American environmental marketing Company TerraChoice publish on their Seven Sins of Greenwashing website.

1: Sin of the Hidden Trade-off

A claim suggesting that a product is ‘green’ based on a narrow set of attributes without attention to other important environmental issues. Paper, for example, is not necessarily environmentally-preferable just because it comes from a sustainably-harvested forest. Other important environmental issues in the paper-making process, such as greenhouse gas emissions, or chlorine use in bleaching may be equally important.

2: Sin of No Proof

An environmental claim that cannot be substantiated by easily accessible supporting information or by a reliable third-party certification. Common examples are facial tissues or toilet tissue products that claim various percentages of post-consumer recycled content without providing evidence.

3: Sin of Vagueness

A claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real meaning is likely to be misunderstood by the consumer. ‘All-natural’ is an example.
Arsenic, uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde are all naturally occurring, and poisonous. ‘All natural’ isn’t necessarily ‘green’.

4: Sin of Worshiping False Labels

A product that, through either words or images, gives the impression of third-party endorsement where no such endorsement exists; fake labels, in other words.

5: Sin of Irrelevance

An environmental claim that may be truthful but is unimportant or unhelpful for consumers seeking environmentally preferable products. ‘CFC-free’ is a common example, since it is a frequent claim despite the fact that CFCs are banned by law.

6: Lesser of Two Evils

A claim that may be true within the product category, but that risks distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the category as a whole. Organic cigarettes could be an example of this sin, as might the fuel-efficient sport-utility vehicle.

7: Sin of Fibbing

Environmental claims that are simply false. The most common examples were products falsely claiming to be Energy Star certified or registered.

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