FTC Resources for Reporters
Environmentally Friendly Products: FTC’s Green Guides
A growing number of American consumers are looking to buy environmentally friendly, “green” products, from recycled paper to biodegradable trash bags. Companies have responded with “green” marketing touting the environmental benefits of what they’re selling. But sometimes what companies think their green claims mean and what consumers really understand are two different things. The Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides are designed to help marketers avoid making environmental claims that mislead consumers.
The Green Guides were first issued in 1992 and were revised in 1996 and 1998. The guidance they provide includes: 1) general principles that apply to all environmental marketing claims; 2) how consumers are likely to interpret particular claims and how marketers can substantiate these claims; and 3) how marketers can qualify their claims to avoid deceiving consumers.
The FTC recently proposed an update of the Guides that is designed to make them easier for companies to understand and use. The proposed changes include new guidance on marketers’ use of product certifications and seals of approval, claims about materials and energy sources that are “renewable,” and “carbon offset” claims. The FTC accepted public comments on the proposed changes until December 10, 2010. It will now decide which changes to make final.
News Releases:
- FTC Approves Final Orders Settling Charges that Window Marketers Made Deceptive Energy Efficiency and Cost Savings Claims – 05/18/2012
- Window Marketers Settle FTC Charges That They Made Deceptive Energy Efficiency and Cost Savings Claims – 02/22/2012
- FTC Settlement Ends “Tested Green” Certifications That Were Neither Tested Nor Green – 01/11/2011
- Federal Trade Commission Proposes Revised “Green Guides” – 10/06/2010
- FTC Settlement Bars Seller's Deceptive ‘Biodegradable’ Claims – 08/26/2009
- FTC Charges Companies with ‘Bamboo-zling’ Consumers with False Product Claims – 08/11/2009
- FTC Announces Actions Against Kmart, Tender and Dyna-E Alleging Deceptive ‘Biodegradable’ Claims – 06/09/2009
Documents:
- Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims
- Proposed Revisions to the Green Guides
- Green Guides Fact Sheet
Congressional Testimony:
Business Education:
Consumer Education:
