With increased awareness on the importance of going green, consumers are being picky about what kind of products they are purchasing. Businesses are therefore, responding to this need by branding products with a wide array of supposed benefits to the environment.

Products these days are now claiming un-established claims on their being eco-friendly, bio-degradable, natural or organic.

These un-established and vague claims on environmental benefits have created a situation that the Federal Trace Commissions (FTC) seeks to rectify. The regulatory body has drafted a new proposal aimed at making companies responsible for any claims they put on their products. The claims will have to be specific and better defined.

An example is the definition of the word ‘biodegradable’. Currently, this term is described as a product which breaks down within a reasonably short duration. However, under the proposal, this definition would have to be more definite and would have to specify the period within which decomposition takes place, such as ‘no more than a year’, et cetera.

Also the proposal bars a product from being labeled as free of something unless that component was previously present in similar products.

Carbon offset claims must also be verified with companies being required to provide evidence of their assurances. Whether the offset claimed would occur within two years of purchase is also required to be disclosed by the manufacturers.

Despite all these, however, some terms are still going to be left vague due to a lack of basis of definition. These include ‘sustainable’, ‘natural’ and ‘organic’. It is hoped that other regulatory bodies will step up as in the case of the Department of Agriculture proposing to classify ‘organic’ as a product made entirely from agricultural ingredients.

These steps are a welcome move to stem businesses taking advantage of consumers’ eagerness to live healthier and be eco-friendly.

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