Much in the way that “whitewashing” pertains to hiding the unpleasant side of a political platform, “greenwashing” refers to the practice of using marketing to portray a product or service as being “green”– even if that’s a dishonest exaggeration. Currently, there are over 400 “eco-certification” labels floating around for usage on consumer products, which waters down the meaning of the label, and muddies the definition of what it really means to be “green.”
Packaging design is another tricky way to bamboozle a customer into thinking they’re buying a product that is good for the environment and made sustainably. If the design on a product is mostly green, includes wildlife or animals, or has that popular weathered-cardboard look to it, emotive response tells us that we can feel better about buying it, because it has something to do with preserving the earth or saving trees. And that’s what’s hip, right?
Unfortunately, regulation of eco-certified labels is outrageously lax, so they range from the strictest achievement of sustainability to the lamest possible interpretation of “efficiency.” For instance, some products continue to boast that they’re “CFC-free”– but CFC (or chlorofluorocarbon) has been banned for decades! Huggies claims that one particular line of their disposable diapers is “organic,” but the manufacturer provides no certification to prove it, and the diapers and packaging are about as far from biodegradable as a product can get.
At The Greener Good, we do in-depth research on every product we sell to ensure that it’s genuinely green. Whether it’s fair trade, sustainably made, all natural, compostable, non-toxic, or manufactured in the USA, the goods we offer are the real eco-friendly deal.
For more on “greenwashing”, see:
The Greener Good 
This is really helpful. We all need to learn how to read labels.