Eco Child’s Play

A new report claims that the increasing number of ‘all-natural’ and ‘organic’ products on the market may be guilty of “the seven sins of greenwashing”.

TerraChoice Environmental Marketing released its report The Seven Sins of Greenwashing today. The report defines greenwashing as “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.”

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Between 2007 and 2009, the report concluded the in-store availability of so-called ‘green’ products has increased between 40% and 176% in the United States and Canada.  Approximately 98% of products surveyed were found to have committed at least one Sin of Greenwashing.

Says Scot Case, Vice President of TerraChoice:

“The good news is that the growing availability of green products shows that consumers are demanding more environmentally responsible choices, and that marketers and manufacturers are listening. The bad news is that TerraChoice’s survey of 2,219 consumer products in the U.S. and Canada shows that 98% committed at least one Sin of Greenwashing and that some marketers are exploiting consumers’ demand for third-party certification by creating fake labels or false suggestions of third-party endorsement. Despite the number of legitimate eco-labels out there, consumers will still have to remain vigilant in their green purchasing decisions”.

The 2009 report especially focused on children’s toys, baby products, cosmetics, and cleaning products which are product categories that are most susceptible to greenwashing.

What are the Seven Sins of Greenwashing?  Here they are:

1. The Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off “occurs when one environmental issue is
emphasized at the expense of potentially more serious concerns. In
other words, when marketing hides a trade-off between environmental
issues. Paper, for example, is not necessarily environmentally-
preferable just because it comes from a sustainably-harvested forest.”

2. The Sin of No Proof “happens when environmental assertions are not
backed up by evidence or third-party certification. One common example
is facial tissue products that claim various percentages of post-
consumer recycled content without providing any supporting details.”

3. The Sin of Vagueness “occurs when a marketing claim is so lacking in
specifics as to be meaningless. ‘All-natural’ is an example of this
Sin. Arsenic, uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde are all naturally
occurring, and poisonous. “All natural” isn’t necessarily ‘green’.”

4. The (new) Sin of Worshiping False Labels “is when marketers create a
false suggestion or certification-like image to mislead consumers into
thinking that a product has been through a legitimate green
certification process. One example of this Sin is a brand of aluminum
foil with certification-like images that show the name of the
company’s own in-house environmental program for which there is no
explanation.”

5. The Sin of Irrelevance “arises when an environmental issue unrelated to
the product is emphasized. One example is the claim that a product is
‘CFC-free’, since CFCs are banned by law.”

6. The Sin of Lesser of Two Evils “occurs when an environmental claim
makes consumers feel ‘green’ about a product category that is itself
lacking in environmental benefits. Organic cigarettes are an example
of this Sin.”

7. The Sin of Fibbing “is when environmental claims are outright false.
One common example is products falsely claiming to be Energy Star
certified.”

The report also investigated the state of greenwashing in the United Kingdom and Australia, examining almost 1,000 products, and found greenwashing is an international challenge.

Adds Case:

“The final piece of good news is that eco-labeling is on the rise. Legitimate eco-labeling is nearly twice as common as it was in our 2007 survey, increasing from 13.7% to 23.4% on all ‘green’ products. The 2009 Seven Sins of Greenwashing report demonstrates that consumers do have greener choices in products but that they need to recognize the legitimate labels and ask questions of unfamiliar ones”.

For more details and consumer tips, visit the report online.

Image courtesy of www.freephoto1.com

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