Welcome to the first article in our weekly series on greenwashing.

With so many people becoming more aware of the impact their purchases make on the environment, many have chosen to purchase products that are more environmentally friendly. All of us green consumers are sending a message to companies, and they're responding, but not always in the ways we'd like.

Plenty of companies, especially those that have been leaders in sustainability, are doing the right thing and genuinely looking into how they can reduce their impact on the environment, (by using less energy, recycling materials, making sure raw materials are responsibly sourced, and reducing packaging and waste  are just some examples).

But some companies realize they can mislead customers into thinking they have green cred when they effectively don't. They may advertise their products as environmentally friendly when they are really not, sponsor environmental groups, or get their products on the shelves of retailers who are dedicated to Earth-friendly purchases; any of these tactics is part of the process known as greenwashing.

Each week, we’ll feature a company, organization, or product that is guilty of greenwashing.  For today, however, we’ll try and help you sharpen your eyes and ears so you can stay away from greenwashed products.


Top 5 Warning Signs You’re Being Greenwashed


5. Hiding evidence

This is one of the more common greenwashing tricks. A truly green product or group will be very transparent about their methods,  including but not limited to: labor structure, oversight and sources, raw materials, procurement, packaging details, energy  type and use, recycling, corporate or organizational commitments, supported nonprofits, and more. They will provide websites, phone numbers and other contact methods so you can confirm for yourself how green they or their product is

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4. No certification

 There are environmental certifications for a huge number of products by now, so if something is claiming to be green, but isn’t certified, then it’s probably not (although in the case of smaller companies or local producers, certification can be expensive or onerous; they should be able to address why they're not certified if you think they should be). Check for seals like USDA Organic and  stamps from organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council, EcoLogo or Green Seal, among others.

3. Vagueness

If a company says “Hey, we’re Green” or uses the phrases “our environmental commitment” or  “all-natural” without explaining further, chances are they’re greenwashing. All-natural is a particularly common greenwashing phrase. It sounds great and brings to mind images of nature and bunnies, but arsenic, lead, uranium and all sorts of other lovely toxic elements are also completely “all-natural”. Expect a company to back up it's claims with specifics.

2. Irrelevance

Some companies will make claims about their products that are true, but aren’t important or particularly helpful. If an insecticide claimed to be “green” because it is free of DDT, a product that’s been legally banned in the United States for decades, that would be an excellent example of irrelevance.

1. Straight up lying

This one doesn’t really need any explanation or examples. You still see companies do this from time to time, despite the near certainty that someone will catch them. Too many people scrutinize “green” claims for this to last, but companies are still get caught fabricating information entirely to look good, because sometimes they can get away with it. 

To learn more about greenwashing, here’s a crash course to help bring you up to speed. Is there a company (or government agency, nonprofit or other organization) you think is falsely advertising their environmental sustainability? Who are they and why do you suspect they're fakers?