Greenwash-Free Products More than Double in Latest 'Sins' Report

Greenwashing still plagues the marketplace, with the vast majority of products that claim to be green -- more than 95 percent -- are actually stretching the truth in some way.

Yet despite the dismal statistics, there are also signs of optimism: Marketers are getting better at making truthful green claims and the number of products being accurately marketed as green is rising, according to the latest research fromTerrachoice环境营销, the firm behind "The Sins of Greenwashing: Home and Family Edition."

"For three years in a row, we've found that greenwashing is a problem and a persistent problem, in that there is a lot of it around," said Scott McDougall, TerraChoice president and co-author of the report. "This year we have some good news to report: Consumers are clearly and literally changing the world for the better. They're demanding green products, and again this year we've seen the number of green products on offer go up dramatically."

该公司发现，与2009年相比，今年市场上的绿色产品数量增加了73％。在该公司评估的5,296种产品中，发现4.5％的产品是“无罪的”，这意味着这些产品通过七个常见的绿色洗劫失误，包括隐藏的权衡的罪过，没有证据，模糊，无关紧要，两个邪恶的少数，纤维，纤维和崇拜虚假标签。

This compares to 2 percent of sin-free products in 2009, and just 1 percent in 2007, according to TerraChoice, which is a sister company to UL Environment and also administers Canada's EcoLogo certification program.

在某些具有绿色项目更长时间的产品类别中，例如办公室或建筑和建筑物，无罪产品的比例是“未成熟”产品类别（例如玩具和婴儿产品）的五倍。

BPA and Greenwashing

This year, the number of Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalate claims sky-rocketed compared to last year, particularly for toys and baby products, where two-thirds of these claims appeared. BPA-related claims increased 577 percent, while products with phthalate-free claims grew a whopping 2,550 percent.

The two chemicals have made headlines in recent years. Canada has declared BPA, which mimics estrogen, to be a toxic substance over concerns of exposure for fetuses, infants and children. Phthalates can disrupt the endocrine system and cause birth defects.

"The attention is a good thing, the demand is a good thing, the corporate response is a good thing," McDougall said. "The problem with those claims is we couldn't find a single one that gave any evidence of the reliability of that claim."

为了证明，公司可以通过现有标准获得认证，在该标准中，BPA或邻苯二甲酸盐是令人关注的化学物质。他们还可以寻求第三方认证，以确认缺乏这些化学药品，甚至发布内部科学文档。

"We would say to companies, 'Something gave you the confidence to say it's BPA-free,'" McDougall said. "If nothing else, you should publish whatever stuff you have internally that gave you enough confidence to make that claim public."

大盒子是绿色商品的最佳选择吗？

Interestingly, TerraChoice found that Big Box retailers may be consumers' best bet for finding green products because the number of greener products is larger than at boutique stores, the rate of greenwashing is lower, and the use of legitimate standards and certification is higher.

麦克杜格尔说：“我们认为这是真的，因为它们是如此之大，并且能够控制他们的供应链。”“再加上他们非常精明的组织，他们非常了解对绿色洗涤的审查，并且不想被那次审查发现遇到麻烦。当您将这些东西放在一起时，他们能够以供应商的行为方式控制更多的零售商。”

In the past some have raised concerns of transparency because TerraChoice refuses to name specific companies or products. The firm steadfastly refuses to, pointing out there are plenty of advocacy groups better positioned to "name and shame."

"We've been careful not to name sinners or saints over the years because we think it's not our role," McDougall said. "There are regulators in this space. And since our real interest is in helping everyone get better together, we thought it would be distracting to name anybody individually."

There are also forums for consumers to rate products, including the EnviroMedia Greenwashing Index.

"When we're asked what's the consumer to do, our first answer is don't give up," McDougall said. "Even if there is greenwashing involved, it's important to keep supporting those products if that's still the best choice you have. Even supporting the company that is trying, even if there is greenwashing involved, it is obviously better than supporting those companies that aren't trying at all. Since most greenwashing is a case of exaggeration, not outright falsehood, than it's still likely you're getting a greener product, it's just likely not as green as it pretends to be."

该报告可用于download from GreenBiz.com;更多详细信息以及在线阅读器，可在SinsOfGreenwashing.org.