Regulations, Watchdogs, Eco-labels, oh my! : The Highly Fragmented and Uncoordinated State of Anti-Greenwashing Efforts
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: vi.American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 43 b.Best Practices 43 V. Conclusion 45environmental quality.8 This heightened public concern for the environment created a new kind of consumer who demanded environmentally responsible products, which in turn led manufacturers who saw a chance to capitalize on a potentially huge market to make claims of eco-friendly products.9 Environmental marketing grew tremendously in the 1990s, both in corporate product development and advertising campaigns.10 The demand and market for green products, services, and firm practices has only continued to grow exponentially in the last twenty years.11 Unfortunately, throughout this growth, many corporations advertised environmental benefits that were false, misleading, or unsubstantiated, likely preying upon the average consumer, who lacks the resources to verify marketers' environmental claims.This rise in unfounded claims, such as "recyclable," and "biodegradable" and "green," increased consumers' confusion.In response, lawmakers and environmental groups began to focus on how to address the greenwashing problem.There are two types of greenwashing: firm level greenwashing, in which companies make misleading statements regarding the environmental practices of the companyor product-level greenwasing, referring to the environmental benefits of one of its products or services.12 Product-level greenwashing is done through labeling and advertising, whereas firm-level greewashing is done through advertising and public relations.Examples of firm-level greenwashing is General Electric's "Ecomagination" campaign, in which GE touted its work in the environmental arena while it simultaneously lobbied against new EPA clean air requirements, 13 or the massive environmental sustainability promises that Walmart makes, that somehow never come to fruition.14 Illustrative examples of product-level greenwashing are LG Electronics and its incorrectly-certified Energy Star refrigerators; 15 "Audubon International", a certifier of golf courses with questionable standards that uses the well-known name and bird logo despite no affiliation with the Audubon 8 See United States Environmental Protection Agency, Assessing the Environmental Consumer Market 3 (1991).9 Lane supra note 7, at 2-7 10 Id.11 See Terrachoice Grp. Inc., The Sins Of Greenwashing: Home And Family Edition 6,11 (2010), available at http://singsofgreenwashing.org/findings/greenwashing-report-2010 [hereinafter Terrachoice 2010] (finding that the consumer market for green products and services was estimated at $230 billion in 2009 and predicted to grow to $845 billion by 2015 and that since 2009, the number of "green" products has gone up by 73%).12 See Terrachoice Environmental Marketing, The Seven Sins Of Greenwashing: Environmental Claims In
Author: Chiara Pellus
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W652756259