The Sins of Greenwashing: Home and Family Edition 2010

This third report from TerraChoice Environmental Marketing finds that, while there has been some improvement since last year, 95 percent of consumer products making green claims are still guilty of at least one of seven sins of greenwashing.

Some of the highlights from the report include:

• There are 73 percent more green products on market today than in 2009.
• More than 95 percent of consumer products claiming to be green are guilty of at least one of the “sins” of greenwashing.
• 4.5 percent of products now sin-free, compared to only 1 percent in 2007.
• 100 hundred percent of toys and 99.2 percent of baby products surveyed are guilty of some form of greenwashing.
• BPA-free claims are up by 577 percent since the 2009 Sins of Greenwashing study, appearing more frequently among toys and baby products than any other category studied.
• Phthalate-free claims increased 2,550 percent since 2009.
• Big box stores are more likely to stock products that are “sin-free” than boutique stores.
• Categories such as building materials, construction and office products contained more “sin- free” products than categories where “green” experience was less developed, such as baby products, toys, and consumer electronics.
• Good eco-labeling helps prevent (but does not eliminate) greenwashing
• of the products certified by a recognized third-party certification, more than 30 percent are sin-free.