Think You Can Trust Labels With “Eco-Friendly” or “Green”? Think Again.
The issue of eco-labeling on products is a very current and relevant issue as more and more people including myself are shopping sustainably. According to a Business Wire article “According to the findings, 78% of people are more likely to purchase a product that is clearly labeled as environmentally friendly” (Business Wire). It is truly great that consumers have the right mindset and are trying to do the right thing by the environment. However businesses are taking advantage and screwing over consumers by not being held accountable, having ineffective certifications, confusing types of labeling, and being profit hungry.
Accountability
Eco-friendly and Green labeling on products to show their environmentally conscious is great, but it is not always completely truthful. The very rhetoric used in the labels can be vague and misleading, for example for it to be considered ‘recyclable’ or ‘organic’ how much of the product needs to be recyclable/organic for it to be considered, 50%, 60%, 70%?
This question along with various others was attempted to be answered by the FTC in 1992 by issuing its ‘green guides’. They provide businesses guidance on proper eco-labeling practices, however these are not legally binding. Often these guides are ineffective in holding businesses accountable.
While they can point to the guides, they must prove in court that a specific marketing practice was deceptive. In addition even if proven guilty the most common punishment is a consent order which means they agree to stop marketing their product in a deceptive way, but they don’t have to admit guilt (DeQuarto).
Another form of problematic regulation is private green certification. The issue with this is that they lack uniformity, meaning that they do not all follow the same rules and regulations. They do not regularly audit marketers to check if they are following the environmental standards that were required to gain the certification in the first place making this very ineffective (DeQuarto).
$$$$
A motivator for businesses to be misleading or not completely truthful with their labeling is the money that can be gained from being eco-friendly. Sustainably sourced products can be up to 75–85% more expensive than conventional products (Ofei). The following numbers provided in this chart are striking. You could see why a business might want to have their products be partially environmentally friendly or claim to be, to gain the large profits that are possible.
Companies and producers will also use eco-friendly labels in fear of losing business to their competitors who may be environmentally conscious. They also can gain a new customer base by being ‘sustainable’ and ‘green’. According to a paper written by Lauren Sherman “‘Green labeling essentially relies on symbolic differentiation… The label says implicitly that this product is different from other products.’ Eco-labeling allows manufacturers to distinguish their product from the average product” (Sherman).
Additionally consumers’ mindset is that most large corporations exist to make a profit and have no morals or ethics. Whereas environmentally friendly organizations appear more harmless, concerned with the well-being of the environment, and are socially conscious. So if your a company, why not have eco-friendly labels to gain an edge on competitors, more profits, and have a positive reputation with consumers (Sherman).
Certifications
There are two types of certifications when it comes to labeling. Type I labels are certified and given by independent or third party organizations. Whereas Type II labels are based purely on self declarations of manufactures, importers, distributors, or retailers, an example being Whole Foods (Sherman).
Type I labels are voluntary labels so it’s important to know what organization or group is giving the certification. There may be some organizations that may be truly wanting to promote sustainability in products or they may be motivated by profits. There are several companies that make profits for the amount of products that they certify. There have been past issues of certification organizations certifying products because of a manufacturer’s willingness to pay a premium (Sherman). Below are some examples of Type I labels:
On the other hand with Type II labels that are self proclaimed when people use general terms such as ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘green’ consumers have no idea what requirements or if any were used at all to determine that a certain product was sustainable or recyclable, etc (Sherman). Below are some examples of Type II labels:
Conclusion
We can not blindly trust claims of “Eco-Friendly” or “Green” labels. I hope with the provided information you take a second look at products that make these claims. Companies aren’t held accountable for making mis-informative claims. Profits motivate deception, and certain labels are mis-leading and have no real criteria backing them up. The image below shows a breakdown of labels to look for and what labels you should be suspicious of:
-Jack Hollmeyer