Is the company or brand using words that sound good, or words that actually mean something?
Here’s a short guide to some of these terms:
- Environmentally Friendly - The term 'friendly' has no legal definition.
- Ocean plastic - Just because something claims to be 'ocean plastic' does not mean it has ever been in the ocean. Some companies use 'ocean bound' instead which is waste plastic argued to be destined for the ocean.
- Recycled - Two types of recycled content are as follows...
1: Pre - consumer: Rubbish that hasn't been used, created from fabric cut offs, plastic pieces, wood shavings.
2: Post - Consumer: Rubbish created once humans have used the item all the stuff we use /recycle.
- Oxo - degradable: Plastics made from standard plastic. These items don't fully disappear instead the breakdown into smaller and smaller pieces eventually leaving microplastics behind.
- Sustainable: Consider 3 elements (social, environmental, economic) Some companies will claim their products are sustainable because they are reusable or recycled.
- Carbon neutral: This means the company have 'offset' their emissions by investing in projects which supposedly absorb an equal amount of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.
- Climate Friendly: Another way of saying carbon neutral.
- Green: it's used so vaguely and has no real meaning that you should pretty much ignore it.
Always look for evidence behind 'GREEN' claims.
2. EVIDENCE
If a company is making claims about a product, have they provided any evidence to support these claims? For example, have they provided statistics or data to explain how this product is helping the planet or are they omitting that data and being vague? Look out for certifications – if they’ve got a certification in place, it means they have met the requirements of that standard to be able to use that ‘seal of approval’. You can then read the requirements of the standard for yourself to see if that is something you approve of.
3. VERIFICATION
Have those claims been verified by an external party? For example, if a particular certification requires an external audit, then you know that an auditor has reviewed the business or its products against a standard in order to award the certification stamp. However, some businesses may use a buzzword without any evidence and without a neutral third-party reviewing their claims.
Be cautious if this is the case.
4. SUSTAINABILITY
If a business or product is claiming to be ‘sustainable’ it should be considering the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social and economic). Quite often there will be a strong focus how to reduce the environmental impacts, but the other pillars get forgotten about. Look for evidence that businesses are thinking about their impact on people and the economy too.
