The Truth About Greenwashing

The government doesn't regulate terms like natural, green, and nontoxic when it comes to product labels; consequently, there are no rules to differentiate which ingredients or procedures qualify under this term, which often leads to greenwashing.

Greenwashing is an expression often used to describe situations where companies mislead consumers by claiming to be eco-friendly, sustainable, or cleaner than they legitimately are as a marketing scheme rather than as a core principle of their business model (1). According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG):

Lax federal regulations mean that claims like “natural,” “nontoxic,” “plant-based” and “free of” have no legal basis in the personal care industry. With so many different claims on packages, consumers are often left confused, or even misled, about what’s really in their products