The Seven Sins of Greenwashing

Are you starting to notice more “green” claims on products and in advertisements? The trend is real, according to a new report from TerraChoice called “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing” (full report here). Ads containing green claims rose from 3% of all ads in 2006 to 10% in 2009. So it may not be surprising that many of these claims could be categorized as greenwashing.

Sometimes greenwashing can be more like a white lie; a lie of omission, for example. Other times, claims may be blatantly false or totally irrelevant to the product. Here’s a quick summary of TerraChoice’s original Six Sins:

The Seventh Sin is that of worshipping false labels, which exploit consumers’ demand for third party endorsements by creating false or misleading eco-labels.

TerraChoice claims that 98% of the companies surveyed have committed at least one of these greenwashing sins. Yet, what should companies do? Invest in sustainable practices in silence? Most consumers would rather at least be aware of companies’ environmental efforts, I believe, rather than buy in the dark. I think the lesson here is be conservative in your claims, and of course, as transparent as possible. Doing something is better than doing nothing, but exaggerating what you’re doing may be even worse.