Eric Wesoff 08 17 09, 11:41 AM

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Top 10 Signs of Greenwash

Greentech Media receives a lot of press releases and promotional materials on products and services that stretch the meaning of green.  My recent favorites were the flood of bidet promotions – they cut down on toilet paper, you know, and green cigarettes.

Greenwash is growing. There is no standard or single organization to substantiate these claims and there are literally hundreds of "Green Labelling" organizations.

Anyway, on that topic (greenwashing, not bidets) Business for Social Responsibility, a sustainability consulting organization, and Futerra just released a great report on "Understanding and Preventing Greenwash."

They provide a guide to spotting the “10 Signs of Greenwash”:

• Fluffy language: Words or terms with no clear meaning (e.g., “eco-friendly”). 
• Green product vs. dirty company: Such as efficient lightbulbs made in a factory that pollutes rivers. 
• Suggestive pictures: Green images that indicate a (unjustified) green impact (e.g., flowers blooming from exhaust pipes). 
• Irrelevant claims: Emphasizing one tiny green attribute when everything else is not green. 
• Best in class: Declaring you are slightly greener than the rest, even if the rest are pretty terrible. 
• Just not credible: “Eco friendly” cigarettes, anyone? “Greening” a dangerous product doesn’t make it safe.
• Jargon: Information that only a scientist could check or understand. 
• Imaginary friends: A “label” that looks like third-party endorsement — except that it’s made up. 
• No proof: It could be right, but where’s the evidence? 
• Outright lying: Totally fabricated claims or data.

You can download the full report at their website.