The Greenwash Brigade hit the nail on the head recently with their commentary on a public radio interview with Seventh Generation’s Jeffrey Hollender. Namely: it’s extremely hard for consumers to uncover greenwashing on their own. If you’re knowledgeable on environmental issues, you can make reasonable guesses about when a marketing claim may be suspect. But trying to get specific environmental information about a product is exceedingly difficult.

First, there are so many things that go into whether a product should be considered environmentally friendly. How was it manufactured? How is it packaged? How was it transported? Is it recyclable?

Second, it’s difficult to find a credible source with information on a product’s environmental impact. Who is documenting this stuff? Are they trustworthy?

Interestingly, the topic fits well into a discussion TerraChoice’s Scot Case had with the Federal Trade Commission recently. The FTC is revamping its Environmental Marketing Claims Guidelines and is currently hearing testimony from experts as they deliberate. Scot was on a panel regarding the need for FTC guidance and made one critical recommendation. Since consumers are demanding proof of green claims, companies should be required to provide it – either with data and evidence on their websites or through third-party certification.

In others words, consumers shouldn’t be stuck with the burden of research. Companies should help make the information consumers need easily available.

Note: For your listening pleasure, there’s a recorded webcast from the FTC event mentioned above.

OfficeMax had some really cool news out last week. The green-savvy retailer has partnered with the award-winning, green start-up company TerraCycle. OfficeMax is launching the partnership with seven TerraCycle products including a line of EcoLogo-certified, TerraCycle Natural Cleaners. Besides being plant-based, non-toxic and biodegradable, these cleaners are packaged directly in used soda bottles! Talk about innovative recycling.

TerraCycle has a storied if still-short history in bringing eco-friendly products to market. The company, founded by 25-year-old Tom Szaky started out with worm poop plant food, making it big with distribution through WalMart and The Home Depot in 2005.

Meanwhile OfficeMax is one of several retailers on a quest to become one of the greenest big-box stores around. And as more and more retailers fight for top green honors, certifications from accredited ecolabelers like EcoLogo grow increasingly important for retail suppliers. TerraCycle certainly makes for tough supplier competition.

Last week the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) published its latest report on the efforts of federal agencies to adopt more environmentally-friendly practices. The report comes out every two years and covers a wide range of environmental impact areas. Among the findings: by the end of fiscal year 2006, “most of the largest [federal] purchasing agencies, as well as many of the other executive agencies, had developed or were developing comprehensive integrated green purchasing programs.” That’s great news because it means governmental organizations should drive growth in green manufacturing. Earlier this year I referenced the Department of Defense’s green procurement policy and the associated financial incentive for the DOD’s suppliers to offer green products. Clearly financial incentives to go green have expanded significantly across the government sector.

The OFEE also went beyond tracking the purchasing plans of federal agencies in its report and attempted to measure where implementations of new green purchasing policies have been successful. For example, federal agencies are now actively seeking computer products that reduce standby power. It is estimated that bringing power consumption down on standby mode could save taxpayers more than $400 million in annual energy costs over the next six years, and should save enough equivalent energy to power 630,000 homes for one year.

Other examples of success include an increase in the number of biobased products (cleaning products, solvents, etc.) being used and tested by federal agencies, and the fact that the IRS prints all annual income tax forms on recycled content paper.

All in all, there is more green purchasing going on. And more green purchasing means more money in the green supply chain.

On the day we celebrate the Earth, it only seems appropriate to recognize a few companies doing their part to keep our planet healthy. Below are the latest green activities from companies participating in the EcoLogo program. Diamant, Cascades and Hewlett Packard have all made long-term commitments to environmentalism. Here is what they’re doing on one particular day of the year. Happy Earth Day, everyone.

Diamant: Diamant Corporation makes recyclable plastic food wrap that contains no plasticizer and no chlorine. The company’s been busy making a lot of news of late, and today has an announcement out stating it has completed initial trials for new bio-degrading plastic bottles. That’s right, bio-degradable plastic bottles. If you’ve had a hard time giving up the plastic water bottle habit, take heart. There may be an eco-friendly solution in the near future.

Cascades: Cascades is known for its green paper products and packaging materials, and has published its own annual sustainable development report since 2004. Today the company announced that its Rockland line of colored paper will contain up to 100% recycled fiber. Pretty colors and eco-friendly - comes in green and many other shades.

Hewlett Packard: HP has a long, long history of environmentalism, not only creating products, but also acting as a resource and inspiration for many green initiatives. In honor of Earth Day, HP published this month a guide to energy efficiency in the workplace. Did you know duplex printing can reduce paper consumption by 25%? The full guide is available on the HP website.

Just in time for Earth Day, GreenYour Media LLC has announced the beta launch of its new GreenYour.com site. Better than Googling, GreenYour.com lets consumers search for green product and lifestyle alternatives by category or keyword. Type in Green Your “Hair”, for example, and up pops facts on shampoo and hair dye as well as tips and product recommendations.

The new green search site is noteworthy for its comprehensive criteria in determining whether or not a product is eco-friendly. Green attributes are considered as well as green yield, which is defined as the ability of a product to help consumers reduce waste and environmental impact. Products are also considered green when they have been certified and labeled by a credible environmental organization. In other words, the folks behind GreenYour.com are looking to help clear up consumer confusion around ecolabeling and combat greenwashing by clearly identifying products that meet reliable environmental standards. In its list of credible standards, GreenYour.com includes EcoLogo, Green Seal, the EPA’s Energy Star program, USDA Organic, Greenguard and the Forest Stewardship Council.

GreenYour.com apparently has great plans for the future. Since it is built on an open-source content development platform, the creators of the site are clearly intending to make it accessible to outside sources for content contribution. According to the press release, “Next, we will introduce a range of interactive tools and partnerships.”

Oh, and GreenYour.com has a blog too. Welcome to the blogosphere.

First there was green marketing, and then there was greenwashing. Now the pendulum is swinging back again. According to a new study by Burst Media (via Green Daily), consumers are growing wise to green advertising claims. More than 20% of survey respondents said they seldom or never believe environmental claims in product ads, and two-thirds said they only “sometimes” believe.

So is consumer skepticism good or bad? Probably both.

Given the level of greenwashing in the market, it’s a good thing that consumers aren’t falling for every green marketing trick. However, the entire purpose of environmental labeling is to make environmentally-friendly choices available and apparent to the public. If consumers disregard all green advertising, it means many of them are foregoing potentially eco-friendly product alternatives. It’s important to bring clarity and transparency to ecolabelling… before consumers turn away altogether.

Fortunately, there are resources for consumers seeking a little truth in marketing. In addition to looking for accredited environmental labels like EcoLogo, consumers can visit (and contribute to) sites like the new Greenwashing Index. The Greenwashing Index aims to collect and publish examples of greenwashing in product ads. The site’s criteria for greenwashing covers a lot of the same ground as the TerraChoice “Six Sins of Greenwashing” report. For example, the site talks about ads that make green claims that are “vague or seemingly unprovable.” This matches up well with the Sin of Vagueness and the Sin of No Proof.

The more it’s possible to separate the green from the greenwash, the more consumers will buy green products when they hit the stores. Healthy skepticism is good. Giving up on green is not.

With Earth Day right around the corner, it’s a pretty safe bet that you’ll see plenty of green deals in stores and online in the coming weeks. I found a good one recently over at The Daily Green. Hewlett Packard is offering coupons throughout April any time you take back equipment through HP’s computer recycling program. Turn in any personal/office computer equipment or peripherals, and HP will hand out coupons for HP computers and printers.This is a great deal to circulate around any small office, especially because quite a large number of HP printers you can buy with the coupons are EcoLogo-certified. Just another example of HP’s demonstrated commitment to the environment.

Check out other deals this month over at The Daily Green.

More and more companies are coming out with their own green product lines: JCPenny’s Simply Green products, Home Depot’s Eco Options category and Clorox’s Green Works line, just to name a few. The idea is to offer a range of eco-friendly items across product categories while scoring corporate branding points at the same time. Brilliant. But how do consumers determine how green a product line is overall? Maybe a store’s green jeans are certifiably eco-friendly, but its furniture is questionable. How do shoppers know what standard a company is imposing when it labels a product green?

There is nothing wrong with combining green marketing and corporate branding, but corporate labels can’t take the place of certified ecolabels. Retailers are in the business of selling products, not setting environmental standards. Ideally companies should be creating their new green product lines with products that meet the criteria of independent certifiers like EcoLogo. The corporate branding can stay, but it should be accompanied by third-party verification. Then consumers will know when they’re really buying green.

With all the negative talk around green marketing claims, L. Hunter Lovins, coauthor of “Natural Capitalism,” has decided to turn the concept on its head and point out the good in greenwashing. And she makes an interesting case. (Thanks to the Ecolabelling.org blog for the tip)

There’s a spectrum of change. First companies recognize the marketing benefits of going green. Then truly green businesses and posers alike try to take advantage of the trend by hyping green products and practices. The consuming public starts out by buying into the claims, but then questions the new marketing as activists cry foul. Ultimately companies have to back up their claims to avoid charges of greenwashing.

In other words, Lovins claims that greenwashing eventually leads to greener companies.

The argument sounds rational, but it doesn’t mean we should encourage greenwashing. Truly effective greenwashing can and often does go unnoticed, with companies proliferating their own ecolabels and generally adding to consumer confusion. On the other hand, substantiated green marketing is worth encouraging. The more companies can help customers make smart environmental choices, the more pressure there is on the market to make a range of environmental choices available. There may be some unavoidable greenwashing along the way to a greener market, but we should mitigate it wherever possible - with transparency, with positive reinforcement of eco-friendly practices, and with the help of trusted, accredited ecolabels.

Word from a customer company clued me in today to further news on the plastic bag front. In addition to San Francisco’s ban and efforts underway in Maryland, activists and legislators in the city of Santa Monica and the state of Wisconsin are also pushing for an end to traditional plastic bags in retail locations.

Diamant Corporation is promoting the news because of its biodegradable plastic alternative, which is used as food wrap and can be made into grocery bags as well. This EcoLogo-certified product (the only one currently in the category of packaging film) contains no plasticizer or chlorine and is completely recyclable. The company also just announced that it has commercial levels of inventory available, enough to produce in the range of 1.5 billion grocery bags or 16.5 billion pounds of biodegradable plastic.

Want to buy Diamant plastic wrap? The company makes it available for individuals on its website. You know you’ll be in good company too. Last month, Google ordered the plastic film as part of its commitment to environmentally-friendly practices.