Oct 21, 2008 11:00 pm US/Eastern
3 On Your Side: Greenwashing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
When you're at the store, do you tend to choose the product that bills itself as green? Is that product really green? 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan looks behind the green labels.
Natural! Green! What these terms mean depends on who you ask.
"Just things from nature. Nothing, like, chemical at all," said Ryan Birch.
"I think it means that it's environmentally friendly?" said Charlette Harrison.
"Everyone's making these claims. Everyone's trying to get a little bit of the green in your pocket," says Scot Case of TerraChoice in Reading.
He calls it greenwashing -- companies calling a product green without showing it helps the environment.
For example, a bottle of Natural Elements Purex detergent says "natural" ten times!
"What the heck do these claims actually mean?" asked Case. "A good environmental claim is very, very specific and backed up with proof."
CBS 3 called Purex to find out what it means by natural cleaning ingredients and natural fragrance extracts. It said it would get back to us. We're still waiting.
Here's another example. A bottle of original Windex has a sticker that says, "Greenlist ingredients, same great product!" But it doesn't list all the ingredients.
"We're asking very simple questions of manufacturers: What does this symbol mean?" said Case.
We asked.
Windex maker SC Johnson says it created Greenlist with input from the EPA and other experts to rate raw materials for environmental impact. SC Johnson says all its ingredients have been rated according to the Greenlist program, but the label doesn't tell you what those ratings are.
"If you don't know what that environmental claim means, if you don't understand it, don't make a purchasing decision based on it," said Case.
Environmentalists are fighting back by analyzing ads on the Greenwashing Index Web site.
"First, it asks you to look at the words. Are they misleading? Then look at the ad's images. Are they misleading?" said Valerie Davis, whose group EnviroMedia Social Marketing started the Greenwashing Index site.
Users can rate and even comment on ads.
But a Web site doesn't always help when you're in a store, so the Federal Trade Commission is working on stronger rules for "green."
Leonard Gordon of the FTC said, "Consumers wanna buy green products, so we don't want to outlaw making green claims, but we want to also give the business community some guidance as to how to make those claims properly."
So that eventually when you see green, you'll also see clearly what it means.
The Six Sins of Greenwashing, as defined by TerraChoice:The Sin of Fibbing: A company lies about an environmental benefit (for example, putting a fake EnergyStar sticker on a product).
The Sin of No Proof: A company claims a product has an environmental benefit but can't provide proof when asked.
The Sin of Vagueness: A company uses terms like "green," "environmentally friendly," or "all natural," but doesn't define what those terms mean.
The Sin of Irrelevance: A company gives factual information that's essentially meaningless. For example, CFCs were banned years ago, but some product labels still say "CFC-free."
The Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off: A company touts an environmental benefit but ignores other environmental downsides the product might have.
The Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils: A product whose value is questionable whether or not it has an environmental benefit.
RELATED LINKS:
Watch Scot Case Describe The Six Sins Of Greenwashing
Terrachoice & The Six Sins Of Greenwashing
The Greenwashing Index
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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