The FTC And Eco-Friendly Standards
Green advertising for products is at an all-time high.
According to David Mullen of the National Advertising Division at the Better Business Bureau, "Companies feel pressured to out green one another".
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) offers its "Green Guides" to help determine which products must be labeled "green" or "eco-friendly," but recent revisions offered for these guides will change how many market their products (and not necessarily in a positive way)!!! Last updated in 1998, the new revisions to the Green Guides need to result in less generalized claims and far more fine print on packaging.
The question is - how accurate will this new fine print really be? Under the new proposals, products are no longer able to be labeled "green" or "eco-friendly".
The claim will have to be linked to a particular benefit from the product or service (as an example, bamboo being antimicrobial).
The term "degradable" can only be utilized if a product is capable of decomposing in a landfill within a year.
"Recyclable" may also be changed, due to the fact that they have changed the definition of that too.
A product will not be thought of as recyclable if the facilities required to recycle it aren't widely available.
You may well see products with the notice "recyclable only in the few communities that have recycling programs".
The FTC also goes after the third party certifications and seals.
Marketers would need to disclose their relationships with a certifying organization.
Manufacturers will not be able to declare their merchandise is made out of renewable material until they can show how much of the product is produced from those components, what those materials are, how they're sourced, and why they're regarded as renewable.
Additionally, suppliers won't be able to say that a product is manufactured with renewable energy if any part of the product's manufacturing involved fossil fuels.
The FTC is taking comments on the proposed revisions for 60 days.
Immediately after that, they will issue their final guidelines during the first half of 2011.
At first glance, these revisions seem pretty innocent.
Nonetheless, when you delve deeper into what the FTC has done in the past, these changes are worrisome.
First, the FTC in the past stated that "rayon from bamboo" was the exact same as "traditional rayon" as a result of its similar processing.
They want you to believe that these companies were misrepresenting the fabric by calling it what it really is: bamboo or fiber from bamboo.
You also have the FTC's consumer alert: "There's also no evidence that rayon made from bamboo retains the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, as some sellers and manufacturers claim.
Even when bamboo is the "plant source" used to create rayon, no traits from the original plant are left in the finished product.
" The issue? Several studies have proven the exact opposite.
Also, the problem isn't that companies are misrepresenting their biodegradable goods.
Landfills are a place that may literally host a head of lettuce for 5 years and a hot dog for 15 year as Dr.
William Rathje has shown.
(He pioneered excavations on over 15 landfills throughout North America.
) You are able to read about numerous instances (not just about bamboo) on how the FTC oversteps into business.
Bamboo is the most renewable, sustainable, pesticide free, herbicide free, water conserving (no need to water for harvesting) woody plant in the world! Nevertheless, if it's up to the FTC, we won't be able to tell you any of that!
According to David Mullen of the National Advertising Division at the Better Business Bureau, "Companies feel pressured to out green one another".
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) offers its "Green Guides" to help determine which products must be labeled "green" or "eco-friendly," but recent revisions offered for these guides will change how many market their products (and not necessarily in a positive way)!!! Last updated in 1998, the new revisions to the Green Guides need to result in less generalized claims and far more fine print on packaging.
The question is - how accurate will this new fine print really be? Under the new proposals, products are no longer able to be labeled "green" or "eco-friendly".
The claim will have to be linked to a particular benefit from the product or service (as an example, bamboo being antimicrobial).
The term "degradable" can only be utilized if a product is capable of decomposing in a landfill within a year.
"Recyclable" may also be changed, due to the fact that they have changed the definition of that too.
A product will not be thought of as recyclable if the facilities required to recycle it aren't widely available.
You may well see products with the notice "recyclable only in the few communities that have recycling programs".
The FTC also goes after the third party certifications and seals.
Marketers would need to disclose their relationships with a certifying organization.
Manufacturers will not be able to declare their merchandise is made out of renewable material until they can show how much of the product is produced from those components, what those materials are, how they're sourced, and why they're regarded as renewable.
Additionally, suppliers won't be able to say that a product is manufactured with renewable energy if any part of the product's manufacturing involved fossil fuels.
The FTC is taking comments on the proposed revisions for 60 days.
Immediately after that, they will issue their final guidelines during the first half of 2011.
At first glance, these revisions seem pretty innocent.
Nonetheless, when you delve deeper into what the FTC has done in the past, these changes are worrisome.
First, the FTC in the past stated that "rayon from bamboo" was the exact same as "traditional rayon" as a result of its similar processing.
They want you to believe that these companies were misrepresenting the fabric by calling it what it really is: bamboo or fiber from bamboo.
You also have the FTC's consumer alert: "There's also no evidence that rayon made from bamboo retains the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, as some sellers and manufacturers claim.
Even when bamboo is the "plant source" used to create rayon, no traits from the original plant are left in the finished product.
" The issue? Several studies have proven the exact opposite.
Also, the problem isn't that companies are misrepresenting their biodegradable goods.
Landfills are a place that may literally host a head of lettuce for 5 years and a hot dog for 15 year as Dr.
William Rathje has shown.
(He pioneered excavations on over 15 landfills throughout North America.
) You are able to read about numerous instances (not just about bamboo) on how the FTC oversteps into business.
Bamboo is the most renewable, sustainable, pesticide free, herbicide free, water conserving (no need to water for harvesting) woody plant in the world! Nevertheless, if it's up to the FTC, we won't be able to tell you any of that!
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