going green isn’t as easy as simply
buying products that claim to be
eco-friendly hi I’m Rebecca Brayton and
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
speaking with environmental writer
Adrian vassal to learn more about the
concept of green washing green wash is
when a company claims to be green but
isn’t or is exaggerating the amount is
exaggerating just how environmentally
friendly they are and I’m telling you
the problem is so widespread it’s like a
pandemic the amount of products that are
making green claims are actually up it’s
actually at 176 percent in the last two
years and when a study was done on big
box stores across the continent they
found that of the products making green
claims 98% we’re guilty of exaggerating
their greenness in some way or another
and it means some of them are just
making things up like you know they say
there’s CFC free which is better for the
ozone layer but guess what CFCs have
been banned for 20 years so everybody’s
CFC free it’s really not a big advantage
and they could still be made with
another ozone-depleting chemicals they
just don’t tell you about it
so there’s a lot of fudging going on I
mean I’ve seen some products that say
they’re great for the environment
because they are tree free but meanwhile
they’re made with 100% non recycled
plastic could you give us a couple of
tips on what to look for tip number one
to avoid in green wash is never judge a
book by its cover so just because it has
the word nature recycled eco-friendly or
whatever on the front doesn’t mean it
actually is tip number two is to
actually look for specifics if it says
contains recycled contents mmm that’s
really vague it doesn’t really mean
anything so see what exactly you know
what level of recycle content it has if
it says 80% alright that’s good if it
says five percent or it doesn’t tell you
what percentage and move on to the next
product
and three look for ingredient lists so
the companies that are at least willing
to tell you what exactly they’re made of
are a bit more transparent and at least
being honest with you so you can
technically look up that ingredient if
you wanted to be serious about
research so it for cleaning products
that don’t list ingredients immediately
move on to the next product because
they’re hiding something from you
finally you know I tell people to look
for third-party certifications you no
don’t believe a product if they say
they’re biodegradable unless it says
it’s vital gradable according to these
international standards so look for
those trusty seals like green seals a
good one eco logo but again some seals
look official for the company could have
just made it up in a marketing meeting
you know you make sure that it actually
gives you more information if the seal
is just a circle if it says eco safe and
it doesn’t tell you anything else and
it’s probably not a real seal it’s
probably pretty bogus thank you very
much thank you for having me
buying products that claim to be
eco-friendly hi I’m Rebecca Brayton and
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
speaking with environmental writer
Adrian vassal to learn more about the
concept of green washing green wash is
when a company claims to be green but
isn’t or is exaggerating the amount is
exaggerating just how environmentally
friendly they are and I’m telling you
the problem is so widespread it’s like a
pandemic the amount of products that are
making green claims are actually up it’s
actually at 176 percent in the last two
years and when a study was done on big
box stores across the continent they
found that of the products making green
claims 98% we’re guilty of exaggerating
their greenness in some way or another
and it means some of them are just
making things up like you know they say
there’s CFC free which is better for the
ozone layer but guess what CFCs have
been banned for 20 years so everybody’s
CFC free it’s really not a big advantage
and they could still be made with
another ozone-depleting chemicals they
just don’t tell you about it
so there’s a lot of fudging going on I
mean I’ve seen some products that say
they’re great for the environment
because they are tree free but meanwhile
they’re made with 100% non recycled
plastic could you give us a couple of
tips on what to look for tip number one
to avoid in green wash is never judge a
book by its cover so just because it has
the word nature recycled eco-friendly or
whatever on the front doesn’t mean it
actually is tip number two is to
actually look for specifics if it says
contains recycled contents mmm that’s
really vague it doesn’t really mean
anything so see what exactly you know
what level of recycle content it has if
it says 80% alright that’s good if it
says five percent or it doesn’t tell you
what percentage and move on to the next
product
and three look for ingredient lists so
the companies that are at least willing
to tell you what exactly they’re made of
are a bit more transparent and at least
being honest with you so you can
technically look up that ingredient if
you wanted to be serious about
research so it for cleaning products
that don’t list ingredients immediately
move on to the next product because
they’re hiding something from you
finally you know I tell people to look
for third-party certifications you no
don’t believe a product if they say
they’re biodegradable unless it says
it’s vital gradable according to these
international standards so look for
those trusty seals like green seals a
good one eco logo but again some seals
look official for the company could have
just made it up in a marketing meeting
you know you make sure that it actually
gives you more information if the seal
is just a circle if it says eco safe and
it doesn’t tell you anything else and
it’s probably not a real seal it’s
probably pretty bogus thank you very
much thank you for having me
Please follow and like us: