Ever heard the term greenwashing?

You’re not alone! For years I didn’t know what it was, but boy o boy, was I fooled by it!

Now that I know, I am amazed at how often I see it! Everything from food labels, to personal care products, to clothing companies, greenwashing is at an all-time high! You know why? Because companies are aware that consumers are WANTING cleaner products that are safe for their bodies and the environment.

Cambridge Dictionary says that greenwashing is designed “to make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.”

So when a company is marketing and making claims that the are sustainable, reusable & recyclable, but put more time into marketing this than practicing it, that is considered greenwashing.

Another form of greenwashing is when a company claims to be organic, clean, green, safe, toxin-free, etc, yet when you turn the package over and actually read the ingredient list, is isn’t what it claims to be! Some major red flags that make me take a second glance and a products are “Non-toxic”, “Made with organic ingredients”, “contains essential oils”, “paraben free”. While these are all good things, a lot of times the company will label the container with these words, but the ingredient list is also full of other things. For example… “contains essential oils”- Yes the product contains 1 essential oil in it, but also contains fragrance. So while it may appear the only scent in it is from essential oils, the ingredient list shows differently.

And why would a company do it?! (Ding ding ding) MONEY!!

It’s a lot cheaper to spend “a little” money on the advertising and marketing that makes a product look and sound “clean”, “green”, and “eco-friendly, than to actually invest in changing their practices and ingredients to safer methods. And, since there is no regulation in the US, they are free to do this.

Side note: ingredient disclosure is important… does the company/website give the full ingredient list or do they make it hard to find, potentially even needing to email to get the ingredients used. They may list the “Beneficial or Active” ingredients (which are good), but fail to share the full ingredient list. This is shady and obviously shows they aren’t proud of the full ingredient list.

Here are some key words to look for, and, if you see these, just let it trigger you to look a bit deeper into the product to make sure it’s actually clean:

• Botanical
• Bio
• Chemical Free
• Dermatologist Recommended
• Earth Friendly
• Eco
• Gentle
• Green
• Natural
• Non-Comedogenic
• Paraben-Free
• Sulfate-Free
• Sensitive
• Hypoallergenic

If you are ever curious about a certain brand or product, I am here to help you out! Just send me an email and I am happy to look… I am never about brand shaming, rather educating!