Washingtonians can help stop greenwashing under new law

OLYMPIA — Today, buzzwords fly around us like mosquitoes on a sultry summer night – “sustainable,” “plant-based,” “eco-friendly.” More and more businesses are describing themselves, their products, and their practices using one “green” term or another. Climate change and the environmental impacts of our purchasing decisions have many of us thinking about making the most responsible choices possible. But good intentions can cause more harm than good when people are being misled, which is why it’s important to recognize greenwashing.  

Greenwashing is the attempt to capitalize on the consumer demand for eco-friendly products by falsely promoting their product's environmental or sustainable benefits, according to a press release from the Washington State Department of Ecology. This includes benefits that are more natural, healthier, free of chemicals, recyclable or less wasteful of resources. It’s all too common in today’s marketplace.  

A term that was coined decades ago, "greenwashing" was first used to describe hotels that promoted reusing towels as “saving the environment,” the DOE wrote. These policies saved the hotels money by playing to customer’s environmental values without much positive impact. While reducing water and reusing items are important, the marketing didn’t align with the hotels’ other actions that harmed the environment. 

Not all environmental marketing is greenwashing. Many businesses with a genuine culture of eco-friendliness are pioneering new technologies and ideas that are true to their word. The challenge for consumers is learning how to tell the difference.  

Compostable product labeling  

Compostable products have undergone tremendous growth and advancements in the last few decades, and for good reason, according to the release. The problems with traditional single-use plastic items are well-known and inspired policies that promote recyclable, reusable and compostable alternatives. Compostable products are not immune to greenwashing, which is one of the reasons why Washington adopted plastic product degradability standards as part of the Organics Management Laws. The law helps protect consumers and business owners from greenwashed products.  

In general, unless a product is made of wood or paper, state law requires three things on products claiming to be compostable:  

• The certification logo from a third party who has tested the product to meet industrial composting standards.  

• A color signal of green, beige or brown. This could be all-over coloring, tinting or design, or as minimal as a 1/4-inch stripe.  

• The written word “compostable.”  

Washington law now says how compostable products must be labeled and bans certain greenwashing acts, including:  

• "Compostable” is the only term that is acceptable. No other terms may be used, “biodegradable," for example. 

• Non-compostable film bags cannot use green, beige, or brown color schemes.  

• Compostable products cannot be labeled “Home Compostable” only: they must also have the certification logo from a third party for industrial composting.  

• Products that have not been certified by a third party cannot be labeled “compostable.”