Green or Just Greenwashing: Which labels mean something?

Over the past decade environmental awareness in the United States has increased significantly and has become a topic of mainstream discussion.  According to research from Intellitrends, “when asked about their future purchase of products that are green, 93 percent of U.S. consumers say they will “definitely” or “may” purchase these eco-friendly products.”  Seizing on this growing awareness, businesses have begun to offer a wide variety of “natural”, “eco-friendly” and “green” products from shampoo, to ice cream and appliances. 

Sales of eco-friendly products have steadily grown over the past decade, as have the number of products claiming to be green.  While some of these companies make legitimate efforts to be environmentally conscious others just use the growing trend as a way to increase sales; this practice is commonly referred to as “greenwashing”.  While more and more companies jump into the  “green” arena it is becoming increasingly challenging for consumers to decipher between what is truly green and what is just greenwashing.  This is why as a consumer it is important to know and understand what labels really mean, and also why as a businesses it is critical to be honest and clear with customers.  According to the 2010 Cone Cause Evolution Study, “nearly three-quarters of consumers (71%) will stop buying a product if they feel misled by environmental claims.”  Although the green product labeling and green business certification sector is still new and continuously developing there are already several trustworthy labels and organizations that you can rely on to help you make the right choices.

Some examples are the Sustainable Business Leader Program (SBLP), a technical assistance and certification program that helps Massachusetts based businesses make real environmental changes and provide consumers with a trustworthy label.  Green Seal is another organization which “develops life cycle-based sustainability standards for products, services and companies and offers third-party certification for those that meet [their] criteria,” (See: http://www.greenseal.org/AboutGreenSeal.aspx).  A third option is the Cradle-to-Cradle Certificationprogram, a “multi-attribute eco-label that assesses a product’s safety to humans and the environment and design for future life cycles. The program provides guidelines to help businesses implement the Cradle to Cradle framework, which focuses on using safe materials that can be disassembled and recycled as technical nutrients or composted as biological nutrients”. (See: http://www.mbdc.com/detail.aspx?linkid=2&sublink=8). 

Another way to determine if a label is trustworthy is to utilize online resources such as GreenerChoices.org that provides a quick and easy way to determine the true meaning behind a label.  It offers the ability to search by “product, category, or certifier, and easily compare labels using a report card” (See: http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm?redirect=1). GoodGuide is another service that provides the “world’s largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of consumer products” (See: http://www.goodguide.com/about).

When you first get started, shopping responsibly can be challenging and a time consuming task.  But once you learn what to look for, it will become second nature.   Consumers wield significantly greater control over businesses practices’ than they often know.  As previous trends prove, businesses will work to give consumers what they want.  So when you are out shopping this holiday season and beyond take the time to research the companies you are supporting and chose your products carefully.  Together we can change the way the world does business one dollar at a time.  

Written by: Katie Mindess, SBLP Marketing and Communications Intern, katie@sbnboston.org