This author has posted before on Greenwashing and what retail companies can do to make sure that the products they are buying meet their marketing claims.

Many companies that claim they are eco-friendly are actually practicing eco- fraud. At Safesourcing we have a 7 step process to assist companies in the procurement of products they buy for resale or reuse in meeting the eco guidelines that they should.

The organization with the primary responsibility for monitoring that companies are not just greenwashing with their eco friendly marketing claims is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC published the GUIDES FOR THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING CLAIMS in 1992.

Recently the FTC took legal action against three companies for violating these guidelines. Two of these claims have been settled and the other is proceeding to litigation.

Another company that offers to assist companies with their Green Marketing in order to help avoid these false claims and also has a website called greenwashing index www.greenwashingindex.com that assists consumers and companies in evaluating and rating companies eco friendly claims is Enviromedia www.enviromedia.com.

Consumers should not have to worry about greenwash investigation. The simple truth is that companies should be responsible enough to ensure that their claims are honorable, honest, accurate and meet the appropriate guidelines. Ask your solutions provider how they can assist you in this process.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.