“Today, consumers are inundated with products that
make green claims. Some are accurate, certified and
verifiable, while others are just plain fibbing, to sell
products.”— Scott McDougall
will help people to buy green with also be unimportant and unhelpful in the bigger issues of the category as a
confidence. choosing among products. Some aero- whole. Examples include “organic”
To start, “Consumers are owed sols, for instance, boast that they are cigarettes and “environmentally friend-
evidence about the life-cycle of every “CFC-free,” even though chlo- ly” pesticides. “No one should be
product,” says McDougall. At a mini- rofluorocarbons (CFCs) were misled into choosing the lesser of
mum, this must be available through banned here more than 20 two evils,” concludes McDou-
company website information or years ago. gall.
third-party certification. He notes that,
“Dishonesty occurs most commonly 5. Sin of Fibbing As always, the best advice is,
when a company claims that a product Found to be true of relative- “Let the buyer beware.” Be aware
is certified by an outside organization, ly few products, which out- enough to differentiate between
and it simply isn’t.” right misuse or misrepresent the good guys wearing green hats
certification by an indepen- and those stretching the eco-
TerraChoice research identified six dent authority. Their product truth. The best bet is to rely upon
common environmental shortcomings: “certification” doesn’t exist. trustworthy eco-labels, such
as EcoLogo and Green Seal,
1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-off 6. Sin of the Lesser of which certify multiple product
Characterized 57 percent of all envi- Two Evils attributes. Knowledgeable purchasing
ronmental claims studied. Suggests that A sleight-of-hand identified with power will keep impostors from steal-
a product is “green,” based on a single relatively few products. These “green” ing market share from the truly green
environmental attribute, or just a few, claims may be true within the product innovators.
while ignoring larger issues. A prevalent category, but risk distracting us from Source:
TerraChoice.com
example is “energy-efficient” electron-
ics that contain hazardous materials.
Comments McDougall, “It’s like a
magician drawing your attention to his
left hand, so that you can’t see what his
right hand is doing.”
2. Sin of No Proof
Occurred in 26 percent of environ-
mental claims in the study. A typical
example is personal care products
labeled, “Certified organic,” but which
carry no verifiable certification.
3. Sin of Vagueness
True of 11 percent of environmental
claims monitored. Claims are poorly
defined or too broad to be meaningful
and will likely be misunderstood by
consumers. Products committing this
sin might be advertised as “100 per-
cent natural.” But consider the fact that
arsenic and formaldehyde are naturally-
occurring substances; we wouldn’t
want those in our shampoo.
4. Sin of Irrelevance
A green claim may be truthful, but
October 2008 29
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