Greenwashing

What is greenwashing? Well, it doesn't mean that you turned a load of laundry green, although, I have had that happen. In university someone stuck a white, red and green plaid shirt in with my load of whites and everything DID end up green. Better than pink I suppose....

According to Wikipedia greenwashing is:

Greenwash (a portmanteau of green and whitewash) is a
term used to describe the perception of consumers that they are being misled by
a company regarding the environmental practices of the company or the
environmental benefits of a product or service.[1] It
is a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing

It is so common to see the words "green, eco-friendly, environmentally friendly, organic" on so many products on the shelves nowadays. However, it really doesn't mean much, as the industry standards and regulations are not keeping up with the explosion of products on the market.

How do you avoid being greenwashed? Well, as I have found out, there is no easy way. You need to become savvy at reading labels. You need to learn to recognize the names of ingredients to look out for, and get to know the products that are safer for you, your family and the environment.

I have been slowly learning about which ingredients to look out for in cleaning, health and beauty products. It is awfully hard to remember when you are in the middle of a crowded store aisle, your kids are screaming in the cart and you have 5 minutes to be somewhere else on the other side of town. So, I looked for a brand name that I recognized as having something from that company at home, grabbed it, and fled from the store. ( Well, not without paying for it...my kids screamed at the checkout first, then we fled.)

So, I was in the shower yesterday, happily enjoying a few minutes peace and quiet and picked up the bottle of shampoo to wash my hair. Since I had a bit of extra time.....actually, I think I would be more correct in saying that I was hiding in the shower from the family, and milking it in there, trying to maximize on "mommy-time"...anyway, I read the label.

On the front of the bottle, it said Tea Tree Oil Shampoo (good thing), there was a big red circle with a slash saying no Lauryl/ laureth sulfates (good thing) and the company name had the words..."Natural Cosmetics" in it (hmmm). Then, I turned it to the back to read the ingredients. Here is what I found:

PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate - this chemical is deemed to be "generally" safe on cosmeticdatabase.com , but it is not to be used on broken or damaged skin ~ hmmm. the bottle didn't say anything about that!

There are also some other chemicals that have moderate to mild toxicity, and that's not what I want to put on my children's hair, or mine either. I know that there are better choices out there, with ingredients I can pronounce.

The lesson learned? Just because a company has some items that are green and safe, doesn't mean that all of their products are. READ THE LABELS!

And what if it doesn't have the ingredients listed??? Generally, it means that the company is trying to hide something they don't want you to see is in their product. However, this is not always the case, so you can look it up online or phone the company. I will be doing future posts about specific ingredients to watch out for, and as I learn more I will be sharing with you.

Have a great day, and don't get greenwashed!