Daily Archives: November 20, 2011

Has Your Product Been Greenwashed?

About a year ago SI published a post that asked if it was green, or just more greenwashing after Terrachoice released its annual Sins of Greenwashing study that found 95% of the 5,296 products that were reviewed were still committing at least one greenwashing sin.

In response to this post, a reader has directed me to an awesome graphic, Green Marketing Exposed, created by Marketing Degree, embedded below (with permission), that breaks down the seven deadly greenwashing sins of

  • no proof
  • hidden trade-off
  • smoke and mirrors
  • vagueness
  • false labels
  • irrelevant
  • bold lies

and the top three ways consumers can avoid the greenwashing traps

  • shop at big box retailers (heavily scrutinized by media)
  • beware of the electronics, DIY construction product, toys & baby product, and household cleaning product industries in particular
  • look for trusted logos

This is very useful for your supply chain sustainability manager. Know what to look for before your customer finds it!

Green Marketing Exposed