We want to do the right thing.  We want to buy products that contribute to our own safety and well-being, as well as that of the planet.  “Green” products have multiplied in the past decade as well as “green” companies.  “Green” has become the hot marketing tool to attract our dollars.  Beware of slick advertising, because not all products or companies are environmentally responsible.  Some are merely greenwashing.

What is greenwashing?  www.greenwashingindex.com provides the following definition: “It’s greenwashing when a company or organization spends more time and money claiming to be ‘green’ through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact.  It’s whitewashing, but with a green brush.” 

It’s difficult for the average consumer to know which companies are truly dedicated to being sustainably green, rather than making empty claims.  For example, is it green when a grocery store advocates buying and using their recyclable bags, but doesn’t bother to support local agriculture by featuring local products in their store?  Or how green is a company that’s been forced by law to clean up their practices then brags about how they’ve voluntarily complied to be more sustainable? 

How can we identify which companies or products are really green, in the sense that they’ve attempted to make the entire chain of operations more sustainable?  How can we discover which companies are guilty of greenwashing?  It takes some research, but there are websites to help you find the truth.

GreenWashingIndex is designed to help consumers evaluate green marketing claims and to hold businesses accountable for their environmental advertising.  On their website there is an interactive tool which rates companies from 1, authentic to 5, bogus regarding their level of sustainability.  Readers are encouraged to send in ads they feel are deceptive and rate companies based on their experiences with them. Also, they offer several good suggestions, such as trusting your instincts, googling the company to see what environmental processes they are engaged in, and checking a company’s environmental history.   Ask yourself, what is a particular company’s environmental story?  Most of us are pretty good at separating claims that are believable versus those that seem too good to be true.

SourceWatch, www.sourcewatch.org/, offers “rough rules of thumb for detecting greenwash.” One of their suggestions, for example, is to check a company’s website for submissions to governmental or other agencies.  Look for submissions relating to lobbying issues.  You might discover that rather than lobbying for stronger environmental regulations, a company is actually lobbying to undermine current law.

Sadly, most companies appear not to be living up to their environmental claims.  Terra Choice (www.terrachoice.com), an environmental marketing company, “conducted a study in which they found that almost all the environmental claims made for consumer products are false or misleading.”  As consumers, who support sustainability, we can vote with our dollars to buy products from companies making the most truthful claims.  Terra Choice website lists “Seven sins of greenwashing” to help educate consumers about some of the more deceptive advertising practices.

Another way to look for good green practices is to check for approved environmental seals on products.  In the article “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing” there is a list of the most common eco-labels used on products.  This list is not comprehensive, but gives you a place to start.  I decided to test this out by checking my dishwashing liquid.  I had three different “green” brands I’d recently purchased.  Amazingly, none had an authentic eco-label, though two had what looked like one.  Both of these had symbols featuring leaves, which gave the impression of being an eco-label.  However, on close examination, one of the labels said “Customer satisfaction guaranteed.”  Really?  To be fair I have not checked all the eco-labels out there and these products all were made of plant based surfactants, which are less harmful than some of the stronger chemicals used in cleaning products.  Still, I was disappointed.  If they were truly green, why not proudly carry an identifiable eco-label?  Sometimes, it seems the best we can do at the moment is to purchase the lesser of two evils.

Finally, if you happen to run a business and would like to know how to become more green in your practices, check out www.videojug.com/interview/ getting-your-business-green-certified-2. Spencer Brown has reinvented moving boxes and moving.  To see a great interview with him go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku18_3un8Fg. His company site is http://earthfriendlymoving.com.

Your turn:  What has been your experience trying to buy more environmentally friendly products?

Resources and inspirations:

“Life, Inc. How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back,” by Douglas Rushkoff.  This is a highly readable and eye-opening book that traces the history of how corporations came into being, their connection with a centralized money system, and how this affects our everyday lives and purchasing decisions.  After reading this book it became clear to me why most large businesses would rather lobby to do business as usual, than make meaningful changes to more sustainable practices.

www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Greenwashing

www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_best_source_of_environment.php

Next week:  Green remodeling