Have you been duped by the growing phenomenon of greenwashing in our increasingly eco-sensitive marketplace? The chances are pretty high that you have. Time magazine published an informative article about greenwashing today entitled “Eco-Buyer Beware: Green Can Be Deceiving”. According to the article, “as going green has become big business, companies appear eager to associate themselves with the environment, deservedly or not.”
The article references a list of “The Six Sins of Greenwashing” offered by the environmetal marketing firm TerraChoice. This list consists of six easy-to-spot signs which indicate that a company is likely making false or misleading green claims about their products. Examples include the “Sin of Vagueness” (i.e. claims like ‘all natural’ and ‘earth friendly’ – what does that mean, exactly??) and the “Sin of Irrelevance” (i.e. claiming that a product is “CFC free”, even though CFCs have been banned for years, so no one in the world uses them anyway).
Take a look at the article if you might be interested – it’s not too long and it’s full of very useful information. It’s important for all of us to be as informed as possible on the eco-conscious-consumer front so that we learn to spend our powerful dollars intelligently.
