New report: Greenwash grows in a bad economy

The Greenwash Brigade

(Images via Terrachoice)

Greenwashing is up an average of 79% since 2007 (a rare expanding economic sector these days). Apparently, companies have discovered that one way to increase market share is to come up with new ways to greenwash.

Today, TerraChoice updated my favorite greenwash identification tool, The Six Sins of Greenwashing. Besides expanding their report to include the UK and Australia, they identified a new sin - so the update requires a new title, The Seven Sins of Greenwashing.

The new sin? The Sin of Worshiping False Labels

TerraChoice found that companies have responded to consumer demand for clear, green marketing by making up false certifications. As Scot Case of TerraChoice put it, “A lot of companies have gotten into the business of creating their own green ‘spots,’ and when a company does that… a lot of their products tend to meet it.”

As the report notes, this is a victory of sorts. The calls of the Greenwash Brigade and our allies for third-party certification have been heard by manufacturers and marketing companies - fully 23% of products commit the Sin of Worshiping False Labels. However, consumers are confused enough by the plethora of existing labels (which the Brigade discussed here on this blog). Adding fake labels only makes it worse.

Yesterday, buying a chocolate bar, I looked for a particular logo. I didn’t find the one I wanted, but I saw four I didn’t recognize. Were they even real?

How can consumers spot a false logo? Scot Case: “We started to make a little wallet card to explain what all the little logos meant. It was too big. We couldn’t get it to fit in a wallet. Then, we were going to make a purse card, and it still didn’t fit.” With over 300 logos, they set aside the idea of a suitcase card to focus on The Seven Sins as principles consumers could follow.

Scot also noted that the solution to the problem of too many logos is consolidation, where certifiers, retailers, or legislators set rules everyone has to play by. My fingers are crossed.

My (minor) criticisms

I love this report, and especially the new regional reports which make it feel much more relevant to me. I have a couple of quibbles with it, though.

First, I find their definition of greenwashing hard core, and I think it’s nearly impossible for products to avoid committing one of the sins. I’m more forgiving in my shopping. (Of course, I’m not in the business of providing eco-marketing or eco-labeling, unlike report sponsor TerraChoice and their EcoLogo.

Here’s an example. Most true single-attribute claims like organic get tarred with the Hidden Trade-off. Reading page 9, “swabs made of organically-grown cotton if the cotton had been bleached with chlorine” are guilty of this. Personally, I’m satisfied that organic is substantially better than the alternative. I prefer but don’t require perfection.

Second, I wish the report were clear what products should do where there is no third-party certification. They note that 44 baby products and 5 toys claim to be “Bisphenol A (BPA)-free.” Scot suggested consumers verify claims - and commented that we tend not to. I don’t think that’s a reasonable expectation for most consumers. I don’t have a viable alternative, though.

Last thoughts

Scot and I have passion to memorize logos and time to call manufacturers and retailers, but I’d argue we aren’t typical of the American consumer. I asked him point blank whether there’s any hope someone will hold manufacturers accountable. He’s cheerier than I am.

“I think there is hope, because more and more consumers are realizing that they’re being snookered as they face the problems that I’ve faced - that a manufacturer has flat out lied to them. And upset consumers is probably the most powerful force on the planet right now. If you get enough upset consumers, they can force manufacturers to change their manufacturing practices and marketing practices.”

I call on readers to go beyond this post to read the whole thing - it’s an easy and quick read. Then tell me and the readers of this blog - what do you recommend to consumers, to retailers, to manufacturers, or to TerraChoice?

April 15, 2009 by Janne K. Flisrand
2 comments

tags: advertising certifications sin of worshipping false labels

Comments (2)

Jim Nicolow | Respond
April 15, 2009 8:22 AM PT

Over half of the 'sins' among US products were no proof or vagueness, which suggests marketing folks have heard the message that people want green products, but it hasn’t yet translated to changes in manufacturing. Hopeful sign?

We’re seeing the new 7th sin in the building products sector. With the growth of LEED, and the related growth in attention to labeling such as FSC-certified, and GreenGuard-certified, there is pressure for manufacturers to either make their projects certifiable and label them, or shortcut and create their own.

My favorite 7th sin was a recent ‘certified organic vinyl’ article that had folks in my office in a tizzy before we realized it was April 1st:
http://www.healthybuilding.net/news/090401organic_vinyl.html

jgrayson | Respond
April 15, 2009 9:12 PM PT

GoodGuide is a really great tool to help educate consumers about the real environmental/social/health profile of products. A friend of mine uses the GoodGuide iPhone app to help her look up products when she's out shopping, and says it's been incredibly helpful.

Check out this post.

Tools

Meet the Greenwash Brigade

Our hand-picked environmental professionals, each part of the Public Insight Network, are on the hunt for "greenwash" as they examine eco-friendly claims by companies, governments and other groups. They ask tough questions about the mainstreaming of green, from the perspectives of people in the trenches who are focused on these issues 24/7.

Jim Nicolow is a nationally recognized expert on sustainable design and leads the sustainability initiative for Lord, Aeck & Sargent, overseeing the incorporation of sustainable design strategies and features into the firm’s design projects. He is a LEED® Accredited Professional with extensive knowledge of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED rating system.

Janne K. Flisrand has worked as an affordable housing and urban planning research consultant for five years, primarily supporting local non-profits. Her focus is on transit, transit-oriented design, affordable housing, and sustainability. Currently, she’s the program coordinator for Minnesota Green Communities, a program promoting affordable, healthy, sustainably built housing throughout Minnesota.

Dennis Markatos-Soriano recently completed a Master's in Public Affairs at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. He is now launching Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) to help individuals and institutions move from dependence on oil and gas to an efficient use of renewables. Previously, he co-founded SURGE (Students United for a Responsible Global Environment), which aims to bring young progressives together across issues of environmental and social justice throughout North Carolina and beyond. In the summer of 2006, he helped to start a small green company, Greenway Pedicabs, to provide a greenhouse gas-free transportation option for people in the Triangle of North Carolina.

Heidi Siegelbaum is a principal with Calyx Sustainable Tourism and works primarily on advancing sustainable tourism practices. She also specializes in science translation, cross-border indicators with Canada, cross-disciplinary planning and environmental technical assistance to businesses. Previously, she was in-house legal counsel for EPA for industrial chemicals and biotechnology and the senior performance measure analyst with the Washington State Department of Ecology. She is on the technical advisory committee of the Seattle Culinary Academy and a long standing member of the Chefs Collaborative.

NOTE: The opinions expressed by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of American Public Media or its employees. American Public Media is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers.

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