Greenwashing

by David Scott

I recently came across a fascinating paper published by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, Inc. called “The ‘Six Sins of Greenwashing.” The paper defines greenwashing as misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. The six sins are 1. The Hidden Trade-Off, 2. No Proof, 3. Vagueness, 4. Irrelevance, 5. Fibbing, and 6. Lesser of Two Evils. The paper was based on surveys of over 1,000 consumer products bearing over 1,700 environmental claims.

The increasing popularity of “green marketing” gives consumers a great opportunity to make choices based on sustainability, if that is an important consideration to them. But it also exposes consumers to the risk of being tricked by false and/or misleading claims. Although the United States and Canadian governments are working to develop regulations or standards, there is no substitute for keeping yourself educated and informed. Resources like the “Six Sins” will probably become more relevant as more products and services that are making “green claims” continue to enter the marketplace. Companies that make honest, verifiable, and meaningful claims will benefit by avoiding the “green” market being diluted by pretenders. Charlatans should bear the wrath of the marketplace as well as governmental authorities.

In addition to creating a clever and readable guide to the evils of greenwashing, the Six Sins provides links to resources to help consumers make educated choices. These resources include EcoLogo (http://www.ecologo.org/), North America’s oldest environmental leadership standard, Green Seal (http://www.greenseal.org/), which provides critera for the development of various products and services, the Forest Stewardship Council (http://www.fcsus.org/), which certifies wood products obtained from sustainably harvested forests and certifies preferable types of paper, Green-e (http://www.green-e.org/), which certifies sources of renewable energy and renewable energy credits, and Green Guard (http://www.greenguard.org/), which focuses on indoor air quality issues. Good luck getting green and avoiding being greenwashed in the process!