How To Spot Greenwashing

Green toilets! Environmentally-friendly airports! Efficient hotels! These claims are becoming a commonplace in today’s marketing community. How does the educated consumer wade through the green advertising slush, to find truly green products? There are various rating systems but, which is best? Consumer reports help but, how do you know these opinions are reliable and valid? What about bias? It seems there is a need to combine all this data into a sort of meta-analysis, that can incorporate all of it into a comprehensive green product evaluation.

There is one company, that has painstakingly researched each of its products’ for the energy standards they meet. The green consumer no longer needs to search multiple websites for reviews or standards! The new organization, Kuuala, yes it’s pronounced like the cuddly Australian bear, saw a need to present green product facts upfront to their customers and clients.

Each product is graded based on meeting the following standards: EnergyStar, EPEAT, FSC, Recyclable, Energy Efficiency, and Reduced Energy Cost. Additionally, these ratings are not subject to bias, as all are measurable standards for economic product quality. If the product is of extremely high green standard, it is deemed Kuualafied. It is great to see that someone has compiled this information in a format that is easily
accessible and in a consumer-friendly format.
A bit of advice for the greenwashers out there,
“You are not responsible for what you say, but also
for what you do not say” -Martin Luther King Jr.