Federal Trade Commission Looks To Limit Misleading Environmental Claims Made By Advertisers

The FTC proposed revisions to the green guides, which advertisers use as guidance for interpreting and substantiating environmental marketing claims. The green guides are meant to keep advertisers from “greenwashing” consumers, or making misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a product. The FTC’s proposed changes would make the guides easier for advertisers to understand and use. They include new guidance on marketers’ use of product certifications and seals of approval, “renewable energy” claims, “renewable materials” claims, and “carbon offset” claims. The changes would also advise advertisers not use broad, blanket terms like “environmentally friendly” or “eco-friendly”, because such terms imply that a product has lofty, far-reaching benefits when said benefits are very difficult to prove or verify.

 

The green guides not only tell advertisers how to qualify their claims to avoid deceiving consumers, but also how consumers are likely to interpret particular claims. For example, if a product were marketed as degradable, compostable, or “free of” a particular substance, consumers would expect that the product decompose in a relatively short amount of time. The FTC’s consumer perception research also shows that consumers interpret claims about the use of “renewable materials” or “renewable energy” different than advertisers intend. The current green guides do not address the use of these claims, the FTC will recommend advertisers be specific about the materials and energy used on their products. The FTC will also advise marketers to disclose if the emission reductions that are being offset by a consumer’s purchase will not occur within two years if a product is marketed with any carbon offset claims.