New FTC Green Guides expected to Address the Rise of Greenwashing
The average number of ‘green’ products per store almost doubled between 2007 and 2008. Green advertising almost tripled between 2006 and 2008, according to a major report.
Recovering from setbacks at the climate change conference in Copenhagen, the Obama Administration is moving ahead with its agenda to provide stronger leadership to the private sector on environmental issues, with or without the consensus of Congress. This agenda is already having its impact on such agencies as the SEC and the FTC which just recently completed its comprehensive fact-gathering process based on consumer perceptions of green products.
In the Obama era, the FTC is about to get a lot tougher and stricter on green advertising claims made by products and services. In the past, these Green Guides have specifically defined terms used in advertising and marketing communications such as “biodegradable,” “natural,” and “carbon neutral,” to name a few.
In the past the FTC has used its Green Guides to file complaints against companies such as Kmart who made false claims about the biodegradability of paper plate products and a textile manufacturer who represented “eco-friendly” bamboo towels that were manufactured using toxic chemicals. Violators of the Green Guides are subject to criminal and civil prosecution.
Canadian-based TerraChoice Environmental Marketing defines greenwashing as “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 is the name of TerraChoice’s highly-regarded report, first published in 2007 and recently updated to cover 2009.
The update reveals that Greenwashing is on the rise. In fact, 98% of the products on the shelf in the big box retail stores have committed at least on of the seven sins.
Greenwashing is so rampant that a Seventh Sin has emerged. The Sin of Worshiping False Labels is committed by a product that, through either words or images, gives the impression of third-party endorsement where no such endorsement actually exists, according to http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/. The complete report is available for download.
