A recent study by TerraChoice revealed that 98 percent of products with an eco-label are not as green as their manufacturers claim. The researchers first drew up seven different sins of greenwashing, and tested whether the products were guilty to one of these sins or not. Apparently, only a disappointing 2 percent passed the test successfully and are therefore not misleading consumers. Kids toys, baby products, cosmetics and cleaning products proved to be the most deceptive categories of products.
This result is not as surprising as it looks: as more than 85 % of consumers consider the health and environmental impact of products when shopping, it is rational for companies to jump on the green bandwagon in order to increase sales. Furthermore, the results of the study should be relativized because the criterions used by TerraChoice were so severe that even well-intentioned companies failed.
This study shows that –as already mentioned in previous blogs- customers have to be really careful when purchasing products with a green label and also need to inform themselves before buying an ecological product.
(source 1, source 2)
Famke De Ro
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