I discovered just how mainstream environmentalism has become when I went on a rare night out to a movie this past weekend. Part of the premise of 27 Dresses is that the male object of desire is an executive who makes his living in an ecologically-friendly business. He’s an outdoorsman, vegetarian and general all-around, planet-loving kind of guy.

The fact that environmentalism was an (albeit small) aspect of the plot is interesting. But even more interesting is the fact that the movie was sprinkled with green product placements to emphasize the characterization. In the space of a few minutes I saw a close-up of a major green cleaning brand followed by a shot of a hybrid car. From a business perspective, this makes me believe a few things:

1. Businesses continue to see the value of green branding
2. Green companies are doing well enough financially to invest in product placements on the big screen
3. Hollywood is perfectly comfortable depicting green as cool

The fact that environmentally-friendly products are showing up in mainstream movies is further evidence that more and more companies are likely to jump on the green marketing bandwagon. On the downside this means we’ll probably see an increase in greenwashing. On the upside it means that consumers want to buy green, and demand will only lead to greater supply.

Shortly after Terrachoice came out with the Six Sins of Greenwashing report in November, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it would be reviewing its “Green Guides” a year earlier than planned. If you’re not familiar with the Green Guides, they were developed by the FTC to provide guidelines for environmental marketing. They were due to be reviewed in 2009, but so much has changed since 1998 (the last time the guides were reviewed) that the FTC has decided to start its regulatory review this coming January.

There are several reasons to update the Green Guides. First, new claims are being made with regard to issues like renewable energy and carbon offsets that the current version of the guides does not address. Second, the growing enthusiasm for green marketing has led to a significant increase in greenwashing. With new guidelines in place, the FTC can help marketers be more precise with their eco-friendly claims.

The EcoLogo Program and Terrachoice will be actively involved in the FTC review, and will use the principles behind the Six Sins of Greenwashing report to provide recommendations to the regulatory agency. Concepts like the “Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off” are highly relevant to the issue of ongoing uncertainty around environmental marketing claims. If we can help the FTC address these concepts, it will go a long way towards helping consumers make genuinely greener purchasing decisions.