Are You Being Greenwashed?

Thanks to Organic Grocery Deals for leading me to this report.

With more and more people buying "organic," "natural," and "environmentally-friendly" products, many companies are working to cash in on it. The problem is, the terms can be somewhat loosely used with certain products. Because of this, there's a new term among consumerists: Greenwashing.

Greenwashing is the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

The Sins of Greenwashing site lists the 7 sins that are most common and provides a report with their prevelance. Unfortunately, they do not list the companies investigated or who had what sin. Listed below are the "7 sins":

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off: A claim suggesting the product is "green" based on a few attributes without attention to other important environmental issues. For example, paper may be made from a sustainably-harvested forest, but the greenhouse gas emissions produced during the process or the chlorine used to bleach the paper may be equally as important.

2. Sin of No Proof: An environmental claim that cannot be verified by easily accessible supporting info 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 a good example. Arsenic, uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde are all naturally occurring, and poisonous. "All natural" is always a good thing.

4. Sin of Worshipping False Labels: A product that, through either words or images, gives the impression of third-party certification where no such endorsement exists.

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. Sin of Lesser of 2 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.