The 1997 Don’t Be Fooled Report
This report announces the recipients of the 1997 “Don’t Be Fooled Awards.” More and more, American consumers look for products that are environmentally responsible, but find it difficult to sort through all of the claims that companies make in advertisements and on product labels. Annually, Earth Day 2000 releases this report in order to call people’s attention to the past year’s worst greenwashers --those corporations that have made especially misleading or false claims about the environmental benefits of their products and industries. The Don’t Be Fooled Report describes companies’ greenwashing attempts as well as the truth behind the false claims.

About Earth Day 2000
On Earth Day 1990, 200 million people from 140 countries participated in events to demonstrate their concern about the health of the Earth’s ecosystems and to discuss ways to create more sustainable patterns of living. Earth Day 2000 was formed in 1991 to help individuals live out the commitments they made to their planet on Earth Day 1990. Earth Day 2000 does this in several ways:

Earth Day 2000 Newsletter
The Earth Day 2000 newsletter is an easy to read guide designed to help individuals live their commitment to a healthier planet. The newsletter is produced five times per year and is full of easy to read summaries of simple tips on a wide variety of issues from recycling to ozone depletion, from eco-travel to energy efficiency. We also help sort out the genuine as well as the bogus environmental claims and have articles on prominent figures in the green consumer movement.

Countdown 2000 Report
Once a year, Earth Day 2000 issues its Countdown 2000 Report, our yearly check-up on the health of our planet. We help keep alive the global goals for the green decade, proclaimed on Earth Day 1990, by updating the public on the progress we have made on a variety of pressing environmental problems, including global warming, solid waste and toxic pollution.

Truth in Environmental Advertising Campaign
The Don’t Be Fooled Report is a public education component of Earth Day 2000’s Truth in Environmental Advertising Campaign. Also through this campaign, Earth Day 2000 is campaigning for tougher environmental consumer laws and more accurate labeling and advertising. Earth Day 2000, along with other environmental groups including US. PIRG, Ozone Action, and the Environmental Law Foundation have successfully settled two lawsuits against Sanyo and Maytag for failing to disclose to customers that their refrigerators, freezers, and coolers contained ozone-depleting chemicals. Currently, Earth Day 2000 is organizing a coalition of organizations concerned about greenwashing in schools and that support our Accurate Earth Education Campaign. The coalition will work with national and regional education associations to ensure that environmental curricula aim to teach our children how to best protect the Earth.

Nobody ever said that Earth Day was going to turn our society toward a sustainable future in one day; we must all join together to make it happen. On Earth Day 1990 people joined together to launch the Environmental Decade: ten years of commitment to changing our society and putting our long term health first. Earth Day 2000 is working to achieve that goal, to ensure that on the thirtieth anniversary of Earth Day we have some work in which to take pride.

Greenwashing- (v): to make misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a product, or good works of a corporation. Designed primarily to capitalize on consumers’ desire to preserve the planet through buying green.

The History of Greenwashing
After Earth Day 1990 companies began greenwashing in earnest. Millions of people had joined together to protest the degradation of our planet on Earth Day 1990 and companies realized that the public took the environment into account when spending money. Many companies began making misleading claims about their products to capitalize on consumers desire to preserve the planet by buying green. From hair spray to trash bags, from cleaners to toilet paper, people have been fooled by environmental product claims made by companies. One of the most worrying aspects of greenwashing is that consumers cannot verify most environmental claims. The average consumer cannot prove a product is ozone friendly or biodegradable in the same way they can check if a laundry detergent cleans better or a battery lasts longer.

Along with dishonest claims on products. whole corporations with less than perfect records have tried to portray themselves in a good light by claiming that they are helping the Earth in various ways. Various tactics have been used including Chevron showing bear cubs in their ads to imply that their products have a positive impact on wildlife and Procter & Gamble distributing education materials designed to educate students about solid waste issues with a clear bias in favor of their products. In this special “Don’t Be Fooled” report we shine the spotlight on 10 of the most blatant greenwashing offenders of the past year.

The Campaign for Truth in Environmental Advertising
There have been various attempts to put an end to greenwashing. The first step was taken in November 1990 when a task force of ten state attorneys general released ‘The Green Report.” The report reviewed the controversies around issues of “degradable” plastics, “recyclable” materials, and claims of recycled content. The task force recognized the growth in environmental claims made it hard for consumers to sort out the legitimate claims from the greenwashing. “The Green Report” found a need for federal standards to guide advertising and recommended specific standards to incorporate into any legislation on environmental claims.

There were two direct consequences of the attorneys general task force and ‘The Green Report.” First a bill called The Environmental Marketing Claims Act was sponsored by Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey in the 199 1-1992 Congressional session, but unfortunately the bill failed to move through Congress and has not yet been reintroduced in Congress.

The second major step was taken by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in June 1992. The FTC issued a series of guidelines about environmental product claims for businesses. These cover the terms mentioned above, but in the words of the FTC, “The guidelines are not, themselves, legally enforceable, but are administrative guidelines for present FTC laws on overall marketing claims.” The FTC contacts companies that do not stick to the guidelines, but, in many cases, the FTC will allow a product to stay on the shelf for several months while the company uses their existing supplies of packaging. This is allowed despite the fact that the company is dishonestly making money off people who want to buy “green” products. After almost four years with the FTC guidelines, companies are still making false claims, showing that we need legal definitions to really make companies stop greenwashing.

There is good news. One of the first green labeling statutes, which gives strict legal definitions to terms like recycled, became law in California in 1990. The law was challenged, but upheld in Federal Court in 1995. The Association of National Advertisers, which includes companies such as Procter & Gamble, attempted to have California’s Green Label Statute (Business and Professional Code 17508.5) declared unconstitutional because they claimed it infringed on their right to free speech.

In the case of companies who try and create a general environmental feel good image for themselves, like many of the huge oil, chemical and paper companies, the guidelines are far less strict. A company like Chevron or Procter & Gamble can afford to take ads in all the major magazines (and they often do) and portray themselves as environmentally responsible when in fact they are major contributors to environmental degradation and/or opponents to environmental reform.

The first steps have been taken, but Earth Day 2000 believes that corporations must be accountable for their actions. With the current industry led attempt to roll back twenty five years of environmental laws, it is even more important that corporations give the public green responsibility--not green rhetoric.

The 1997 Earth Day 2000
“Don’t Be Fooled Greenwash Awards”
The year’s top ten green washers

1.	Monsanto -Round-Up Weed Killer

2.	Dupont Corporation -Plastic Polymer

3.	Benckiser Consumer Products, Inc. -EarthRite Household Cleaning Products

4.	RBR Productions -Let’s Go, Let’s Dance, and Let’s Touch Beauty Salon Products

5.	Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) -Baystate Organic Fertilizer

6.	American Plastics Council (APC) -Plastics Recycling Program

7.	American Nuclear Society -Let’s Color and Do Activities with the Atoms Family

8.	Proctor & Gamble -Planet Patrol Program

9.	International Paper Company -Paper Teaching Kit

10.	Chevron Oil Company -Let’s Learn About Energy & the Environment and “People Do” Advertising Campaign

The 1997 “Don’t Be Fooled” Awards Go To...

1.	Monsanto for its Round-Up Weed Killer
In a lighthearted television advertisement that shows a homeowner with his head in the soil, Monsanto brags that Round-Up weed killer is “safer than table salt,” could “be used where kids and pets play,” and “rapidly decomposes into natural materials.” Monsanto must have had its head in the ground while making these claims, as Round-Up kills more than just weeds. The weed killer contains glyphosphate, a highly toxic chemical that, if touched or ingested by humans, causes eye and skin irritation, vomiting, fluid in the lungs, and possibly genetic damage. Even Monsanto’s own tests showed that 10% of glyphosphate remained in the soil for one year after use, enough to cause damage to humans and animals. Monsanto, which produces some of the most widely used pesticides in the United States, was the subject of action by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, which mandated that the company withdraw its health and environmental claims from Round-Up advertisements.

2. DuPont Corporation for its Plastic Polymer
In a two-page advertisement in Scientific American, DuPont boasts that its scientists have created an inexpensive polymer that decomposes without harm to the soil or environment. “A world with less trash,” the giant chemical company teases. “Share the dream.” But DuPont’s dream creates a nightmare for the environment. Due to the production and disposal of products like polymer, DuPont ranks among the worst corporate polluters in America. In 1989 alone, DuPont and its subsidiaries discharged over 348 million pounds of chemical pollutants into the land, air, and water. Among other polluting infractions, the company is the U.S. leader in deep well injection of toxic waste, dumping 254.9 million pounds in 1989. Furthermore, DuPont conveniently makes no mention of source reduction as a way to reduce landfill use. Have scientists created toxic waste that simply disappears without harm to the environment? Keep dreaming, DuPont.

3.	Benckiser Consumer Products, Inc. for its EarthRite Cleaning Products
Benckiser teased its customers that “One percent of EarthRite’s proceeds are donated to non-profit organizations working to restore and preserve our natural resources.” A more accurate slogan might have been, “Clean out your home, and we’ll take the environment to the cleaners!” The Federal Trade Commission reported that Benckiser had not donated any money to environmental groups since it began selling EarthRite products in 1992. For misrepresenting these claims, the Federal Trade Commission brought legal action against the Danbury, Connecticut, based company, which produces and markets its cleaning products throughout the United States. Now it’s EarthRite’s turn to clean up its act.

4.	RBR Productions for its Let’s Go, Let’s Touch, and Let’s Dance Salon Products
In professional beauty magazines, RBR advertised that its Let’s Go and Let’s Dance disinfectants and its Let’s Touch fingernail drying spray are recyclable, non-toxic, and made from special “environmental formulas.” More like a formula for environmental disaster. The aerosol products contain volatile organic chemicals, such as isobutane and propane, that contribute to ground level smog. And recycling “Let’s Go” is nearly impossible. Few facilities in the country accept aluminum aerosol cans for recycling, and most cans end up in already overflowing landfills. The Federal Trade Commission brought legal action against RBR for misrepresenting its product claims. The Ridgefield, New Jersey based company also markets its catchy products as Isabel Christina Beauty Care Products. Let’s not get caught by RBR’s lies.

5.	Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) for its Baystate Organic Fertilizer
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority claims that its Baystate Organic Fertilizer is organic and “lies well within all [EPA] regulatory limits of toxic materials.” However, while Baystate Organic may contain all natural human sewage, it also contains toxic sludge leftover from Boston’s water treatment processes. If organic farmers use Baystate Organic, they could lose their liscenses to operate organic farms. Among its many so-called nutrients, Baystate Organic has been found to contain levels of lead over 30% above EPA regulations. Lead has been shown to cause cancer, affect the neurological development of children, and create other serious health problems. The MWRA, the culprit behind Baystate Organic Fertilizer, is a part public/part-private agency which provides waste water treatment services to the metropolitan area of Boston, Massachusetts. This greenwash with government support downright stinks.

6.	American Plastics Council (APC) for its 1996 Public Relations Campaign
The American Plastics Council has several different magazine advertisements in which it show pictures of the goods made from “easily recycled” plastics and brag that if not recycled, plastics can be incinerated to release useful energy.” Or they talk about how lighter plastics reduce energy used for transport, though lighter plastics take up nearly the same amount of truck space as heavier plastics. APC’s pictures are worth a thousand words, but they leave out the very environmentally damaging part of the story. Each year, the plastics industry produces 10.8 billion pounds of non-recyclable PVC plastic. Incinerating PVC plastic releases chlorinated compounds such as dioxin— one of the most toxic chemicals known to humankind, causing cancer, birth defects, and infertility, among other health hazards. Because incineration is so inefficient, only 10% of the energy used in PVC can be recovered, according to Greenpeace. Attorney Generals’ offices from eleven states accused APC of adding to the spread of public misinformation about recycling.

This year’s final four “Don’t Be Fooled” Awards of 1997 go to companies that found a new haven for greenwashing -greenwashing in schools.

7.	American Nuclear Society for its Atoms Family Coloring Book
The American Nuclear Society provides “Let’s Color and Do Activities with The Atoms Family” color-book and bookmark. Children from kindergarten through fifth grade can learn that nuclear power is safe, and nuclear wastes may have innocuous or even beneficial uses. Behind the smiling faces of the “Atoms Family” lies a frightening history of toxic waste and death. Nuclear power produces ninety -five percent of all nuclear waste, yielding 92 million gallons of corrosive and highly radioactive waste currently in storage dumps throughout the U.S. Leaks are not uncommon. Plutonium, just one of the toxins generated from nuclear power production, lives for 500,000 years, and just one-millionth of a gram can be carcinogenic. The true “Atoms Family” is far more dysfunctional than the American Nuclear Society would have our children believe.

8. Proctor & Gamble for its Planet Patrol Teaching Kit
Proctor & Gamble’s Planet Patrol program, geared to students in the fourth through sixth grades, provides attractive posters, activity sheets, fact sheets, visual aids, and a teacher’s guide. The highly biased program presents Proctor & Gamble as an environmentally responsible company, when the facts speak to the contrary. Handouts claim that the their disposable diapers are ecologically sound, but most cannot be composted because of their plastic lining. The Planet Patrol kit further distorts the recycling story, as it makes no mention of the concept of reducing waste by reducing consumption.

9. International Paper for its Teaching Kit
Bringing its slick marketing techniques into the classroom, International Paper produces a teaching kit that claims “removing all mature trees at once” from a forest promotes the “growth of [smaller] trees that require full sunlight.” But this giant of industry neglects to mention the negative effects of this deforestation. The few weedy species that flourish after clear-cutting grow at the expense of rich, diverse, and fragile old-growth ecosystems. While International Paper raked in $22 billion in sales from its 1995 tree farming, it also ranked as one of the worst polluters in the paper industry. International Paper conveniently omitted these key facts from its classroom

10.	Chevron Oil for its Let’s Learn About Energy and the Environment Children’s Guide and its “People Do” Public Relations Campaign
Picking up its third straight “Don’t Be Fooled Award,” this year Chevron also found greener greenwashing pastures in our nation’s classrooms. Chevron distributes several “environmental education” materials to schools, including a guide titled “Let’s Learn About Energy and the Environment.” In this pamphlet, Chevron claims that kids can visit a coal-powered electricity plant to see what plant workers are doing to help prevent air pollution. The guide also distorts oil and automobile companies’ environmental records by boasting of environmentally inventions, such as catalytic converters that “help cut down on the pollutants that are released into the air.” Nowhere in the guide does Chevron describe how coal and oil burning pollute the air or contribute to global warming. It is time to tell the rest of the story.
A continuation of the Chevron story takes us to “People Do,” Chevron’s public relations campaign that continues to cover up the company’s poor environmental record. In a magazine article, Chevron’s clever advertising writers tell us that the endangered Hawaiian Stilt birds “are beginning to thrive” thanks to the Chevron’s protective sanctuary “in the heart of a refinery.” They neglect to mention that the EPA mandated that Chevron create this sanctuary because of the corporation’s numerous Clean Water Act violations. Do people mislead the public about the environment? People Do. Chevron does.

Appendix 1.

LAST YEAR’S WINNERS

Earth Day 2000’s

1996 “Don’t Be Fooled” Greenwash awards

1.	Mattel Corporation-Barbie’s Bath Blast Fashion Foam Soap

2.	Safe Brands Corporation, Warren Distribution. Inc., Arco Chemical Company- Sierra Antifreeze

3.    	Amoco-Cystal Clear Amoco Ultimate gasoline

4.	Kinkos Copy Centers-Eco-Lite bubble bags

5.	Costco-Kirkland Bath & Shower Gel

6.	Tigi Linea-Extra Strong Mousse

7.	Western Fuels Association-Greening of Planet Earth advertising campaign.

8.	Chevron Corporation-People Do advertising campaign.

9.	Waste Management-Tallest Recycling Story Ever Told advertising campaign.

10.	Republican Conference-memo “Think Globally, Act Locally-A Pro-Active, ProEnvironment Agenda For Mouse Republicans”