Tisk Tisk

June 27th, 2013 • BY

Tisk Tisk

By Grace Bell

 

You know the seven deadly sins of behavior—greed, gluttony, etc. Just as

classic, in the cleaning arena, anyway, are the seven sins of greenwashing.

This set of sins may not date back to biblical times, but they do represent the

largest analysis of green claims to date. In all, more than 2,200 products—

representing nearly 5,000 green claims—were tested against industry guidelines.

While not new news and based on the analysis on products found in big box

stores, the findings are of such import in the green category as a whole that we

want to make sure you’ve seen it. Here then is a summary of “The Seven Sins of

Greenwashing,” which found that more than 98 percent of green goods studied

were guilty of at least one of the “sins.” In fact, of the 2,219 products making

green claims, only 25 were guilt-free.

 

 

 

1. HIDDEN TRADE-OFF. This sin is committed “by suggesting a product

is ‘green’ based on an unreasonably narrow set of attributes without attention

to other important environmental issues. Paper, for example, is not necessarily

environmentally preferable just because it comes from a sustainably harvested

forest.”

 

 

2. NO PROOF. This is an environmental claim that can’t be substantiated

by “easily accessible supporting information or by a reliable third party

certification. Common examples are toilet tissue products that claim various

percentages of post-consumer recycled content without providing any evidence.”

 

 

3. VAGUENESS. Guilty here are those claims that are either “so poorly defined

or broad that their real meaning is likely to be misunderstood. ‘All-natural’ is

an example. Arsenic, uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde are all naturally

occuring, and poisonous.” So, just because something is ‘all natural’ doesn’t

mean it is ‘green.’

 

 

4. IRRELEVANCE. Some products make environmental claims that may be

true, but they’re either not important or not helpful to purchasers looking for

environmentally preferable goods. As an example, ‘CFC-free’ is a frequent claim,

despite the fact that all CFCs are already banned.

 

 

5. LESSER OF TWO EVILS. These are “claims that may be true within

the product category, but that risk distracting the buyer from the greater

environmental impacts of the category as a whole.” Two examples? Organic

cigarettes and fuel-efficient SUVs.

 

 

6. FIBBING. Though the least common of the sins, “fibbing” is committed

by making environmental claims that, simply put, are not true. “The most

common examples were products falsely claiming to be Energy Star certified or

registered.”

 

 

7. FALSE LABELS. Through words or images, such a product gives the

impression “of third-party endorsement where no such endorsement actually

exists; fake labels, in other words.”

 

 

While originally applied to would-be green products that are available to

consumers, the warnings and messaging in these seven “sins” are just as

important to consider when purchasing green products for commercial use.

For more info, go to: www.sinsofgreenwashing.org