The green marketing guidelines that were proposed by the Federal Trade Commission on October 6 are sure to upset a lot of folks who’ve been making green marketing claims based more on ideology than sound science and economics.

 The FTC news release says:  “The revised Guides caution marketers not to make blanket, general claims that a product is “environmentally friendly” or “eco-friendly” because the FTC’s consumer perception study confirms that such claims are likely to suggest that the product has specific and far-reaching environmental benefits. Very few products, if any, have all the attributes consumers seem to perceive from such claims, making these claims nearly impossible to substantiate.”

 These are the first green marketing guidelines in 12 years and they dramatically impact rampant green marketing efforts and even make many of the hundreds of environmental “seals of approval” out of sync with the new rules. 

Here is a link to the proposed guidelines:  http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/10/greenguide.shtm