Green, bio, eco, natural—we hear these words all the time, but what do they really mean? We all want the best for our families; marketing companies know this and are willing to pay big bucks for their products to sound green, but this is not always the reality. Don’t be fooled by buzzwords and catchy marketing; learn to protect yourself and your family from the dangers of greenwashing.

What is Greenwashing?

“Greenwashing” is a term describing the behavior of companies who try to position themselves as more environmentally friendly or healthy than they truly are. We hear more and more about companies that have our interests at heart and sell products that are made with “non-toxic” or “natural” ingredients, but many of these terms are unregulated, or don’t mean what consumers believe they mean. Greenwashing is all around us, and if you’re not careful, you may not be getting what you’re paying for.

Common Terms Uncovered

Although there are a lot of terms we have been conditioned to recognize as “good,” some of these are not regulated or have a very different definition than what most consumers assume.

According to Greener Choices Food Safety and Sustainability Center, “There is no organization that verifies the use of “non-toxic” other than the company manufacturing or marketing the product. While CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) requires some products to display hazard labeling, it conducts no oversight or enforcement of the use of the term non-toxic.”

Just because a product is labeled non-toxic, doesn’t mean it is good for you. As an advocate for your family’s health, it’s important to do more research on a product to confirm its safety.

Many consumers have also been conditioned to think that natural and organic products are regulated and verified, but this is not the case for many products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not defined the term “natural” and has not established a regulatory definition for this term in cosmetic labeling. They also do not have regulations for using the term “organic” for cosmetic products. Therefore, companies can claim their products are natural and organic whether it is true or not. Verify the products you use contain ingredients that are USDA certified organic, which is a regulated term.

What to Look For

With so many misleading words and unreliable claims, it’s important to know what to look for when shopping for environmentally friendly and safer products. We’ve outlined some of the certifications and seals you should keep an eye out for when trying to determine whether or not the products you use are subjects of greenwashing.

EcoCert

The Ecocert label guarantees a product is certified organic, has a neutral origin and is a plant-based product that comes from an organic origin. Plus, it verifies a product contains no parabens, no synthetic dyes or synthetic alcohol.

Leaping Bunny

The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ Leaping Bunny Program administers a cruelty-free standard and the internationally recognized Leaping Bunny Logo for companies producing cosmetic, personal care and household products. The Leaping Bunny Program provides the best assurance that no animal testing is used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or suppliers.

ToxicFree®

All products with the ToxicFree® seal are verified by the ToxicFree® Foundation and are ensured to be free from any toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic components for any ingredient used.  All ingredients are researched down to the composition for each component that make up that one ingredient.  When you see the ToxicFree seal, you can be confident what you are using for you, your family, friends and pets is truly ToxicFree.

USDA Certified Biobased

Biobased certification is based on a product’s biobased content only, as measured by a standard test method (ASTM D6866). The BioPreferred program encourages manufacturers to share, with the program and with customers, other product attributes such as life cycle analysis (LCA), environmental and human health effects, life-cycle costs, sustainability benefits and performance.

USDA Organic

USDA Certified Organic foods are grown and processed according to federal guidelines addressing, among many factors, soil quality, animal raising practices, pest and weed control, and use of additives. Organic producers rely on natural substances and physical, mechanical, or biologically based farming methods to the fullest extent possible.

As consumers, it’s our job to do our homework about companies to make sure they are not pulling the wool over our eyes and creating a “green” image that their products and practices do not live up to.

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