The FTC's imminent release of its first new "Green Guidelines" in 12 years has gotten lots of recent attention, along with how marketers will be impacted. Some good, but I believe incomplete or even inaccurate pieces have been written about it, as well as related events and trends. I summarize the current environment (no pun intended) and then cover the top five things you need to know about green marketing in the coming months and years to gain more benefit with less risk.

The Resurgence in Efforts Against Greenwashing 



Up until recently, green marketing has been somewhat of a "wild west" as a result of increasing consumer interest, a lack of "truth in advertising" claims enforcement, a dearth of definitions or standards around green marketing claims, and an accompanying explosion of "eco-labels" (over 300 and counting).

That's changing rapidly, as the FTC cracks down on "greenwashing" and soon issues new environmental guidelines; and as consumers, NGOs and other stakeholders help create greater corporate transparency.

Following the end of a long, eight-year hiatus in 2008, the FTC has filed several greenwashing complaints and sent several dozen warnings to others, including some of the nation's largest retailers -- but also some not-so-big companies. In fact, the FTC now considers prosecuting misleading green marketing claims as one of its seven priority areas for its consumer protection division.

Moreover, consumers have had some recent successes pursuing greenwashing-type claims under state laws, such as California's Unfair Competition Law. These include a $100,000 settlement against Honda for misrepresenting the gas mileage of its Civic Hybrid model; an allegation that Windex put a "Green list" logo on its label to deceive consumers into believing the product was certified as environmentally-friendly by a third party; and two food and beverage manufacturers claiming of "all natural" when their products include processed corn syrup.

The Revised FTC Green Guides

According to an Ad Age article last week, an advertising-law specialist said the FTC's new Guides "could render most of the more than 300 environmental seals of approval now in currency on packaging and products largely useless and possibly in violation of FTC standards."

Leonard Gordon, an FTC regional director I saw present not long ago, put it another way. He indicated that certification by any one or more of the hundreds of third-party certifiers and eco labels does not insulate advertisers, and they will be held accountable for any claims in connection with such certification. What that means to me is that many certifiers are going to be working very hard to make sure their certifications remain in compliance with the new guides, and some, maybe many, certified companies will need to make changes or drop the labels they use.

The guides are expected to tighten standards for packaging claims such as "recyclable" or "biodegradable" (a term that was at the heart of some of the recent enforcement actions); regulate how marketers use such terms as "carbon neutral"; and how quickly and close to the source of carbon output "carbon offsets" must be executed, among other things. They could also influence efforts by retailers such as Walmart to institute a sustainability-rating system for products.

A spokesman for the FTC said the commission is on track to meet its schedule of issuing updated guidelines by the end of summer. "I would expect that they're going to require more concrete showing of environmental benefits, and insubstantial environmental harm associated with anything that wants to claim green, friendly or eco-conscious terms," he said. To the extent it's been undefined, the bar has been pretty low." The new guides will be published in the Federal Register and subject to public comment before they become final.

Next page: Four things you need to know