The Value of Your Green Marketing Claims is Transparency
How Transparent Are Your Green Marketing Claims?
Austin, Texas: I just came back from a week long trade show and was disappointed in the number of green claims being made by manufacturers and potential vendors.
After I reminded them of the new Green Guides, many of them either laughed it off, ignored it, or mumbled some sort of remark like, “that doesn’t hold for us”, or “that’s only for California” or some other asinine and smarmy comments.
There were some heated conversations when I refused to back down and told them to read up on the rules — before claiming that the products they want me to sell are “biodegradable” – when they do not conform to those old rules any longer.
Yes, the new Green Guides hold just as true in Texas or Montana as it does for California and every other state.
A green business needs to be transparent in their claims.
All of their claims. Not just the ones that are convenient.
Explain how your product or service helps the environment, or reduces energy consumption or is made of a high percentage of recycled material — then back those claims up.
If you can’t back them up, state that too.
People will give you credit for working toward getting greener than to make unsubstantiated claims.
I will be spending much of this year reviewing the claims from my factories – and eliminating many of my suppliers – as well as re-writing and re-evaluating their claims.
I would suggest that you do the same to your own product line.
Here’s to a greener tomorrow, today!
