After TerraChoice completed their survey, 1,018 consumer products were identified bearing 1,753 environmental claims. Of the 1,018 products only one did not commit any of the Six Sins of Greenwashing.

Here is the list of sins with an explanation of each:

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off—suggesting a product is “green” based on a single environmental attribute like a lumber company claiming sustainability for recycling content without paying attention to manufacturing impacts such as air emissions.
2. Sin of No Proof—claims that can’t be substantiated, which is anything that makes a claim without giving proof.
3. Sin of Vagueness—claims that are to poorly defined or to broad so misunderstanding is likely.
4. Sin of Irrelevance—claims that may be truthful but is unimportant and unhelpful like stating “CFC free” where chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) has been banned for almost 30 years so there are no products manufactured with it and yet companies are still using the claim as if it is unique.
   
5. Sin of Fibbing—simply false claims.
6. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils—“green” claims that may be true but risk distracting for greater impacts like Organic cigarettes or “green” insecticides and herbicides.

It is recommended that consumers look for Eco-labels and look for signs of the above listed Six Sins.

It is recommended that marketers not wait for the perfectly “green” product as there is no such thing but instead create sound science, use honesty, be transparent and avoid using any of the Six Sins.

TerraChoice expects to repeat this research annually so please save their website to your favorites and check their site again.