The Red, White, and Green

Those who need more evidence of the value of using a shopping tool like GoodGuide need only look to today’s report by environmental marketing agency TerraChoice, which says that a whopping 98 percent of products labeled “green” mislead consumers about their true environmental benefits or company practices. 

Greenwashing, or the practice of making unsubstantiated claims about the environmental benefits of a product, is sure to increase along with the growing number of green products in the mainstream marketplace; the Terra Choice report notes that the number of eco products available in the stores it surveys increased dramatically from 2007 to 2009.

“The good news is that the growing availability of green products shows that consumers are demanding more environmentally responsible choices, and that marketers and manufacturers are listening,” says Scot Case, vice president of TerraChoice. “The bad news is that TerraChoice’s survey of 2,219 consumer products in the U.S. and Canada shows that 98 percent committed at least one sin of greenwashing and that some marketers are exploiting consumers’ demand for third-party certification by creating fake labels or false suggestions of third-party endorsement. Despite the number of legitimate eco labels out there, consumers will still have to remain vigilant in their green purchasing decisions.”

Download the full report.

–Jennifer Grayson

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