Truly Green or Just Green Washing?

Wells Ye

More than 95 percent of consumer products claiming to be “green” commit at least one greenwashing offense, according to a report released by TerraChoice, a North American environmental marketing company.

TerraChoice defines greenwashing as the act of misleading consumers about the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. There are 7 greenwashing sins:

1. Sin of the hidden trade-off
2. Sin of no proof
3. Sin of vagueness
4. Sin of irrelevance
5. Sin of lesser than two evils
6. Sin of fibbing
7. Sin of worshipping false labels

Unfortunately, greenwashing is also prevalent in home cleaning industry. I have two observations:

1. Claiming green without certification – the sin of no proof.

Without certification, the word of “green” only mis-leads. Using this word just for marketing purposes is very easy. It is no surprise that the word “green” is so over used. For authentic green cleaning products, certifications by Green Seal and SEGC 114 are reliable indicators. In addition, Environmental Protection Agency (EPS)’s Design for the Environment Program designated cleaning products have been “Formulated in Partnership with EPA Design for the Environment Formulator Initiative’’.

Certification is the key. At Fresh Tech Maid Services, we use cleaning products triple certified by Green Seal, SEGC 114, and EPA’s Design for the Environment program.

2. HEPA (High Efficient Particulate Air) label is everywhere, but HEPA Vacuum is nowhere – the sin of worshipping false labels.

In the consumer vacuum market, HEPA labels are everywhere, while HEPA vacuums are nowhere to be found. You see the labels of “HEPA Filtration”, “HEPA Type”, and “HEPA Filter”. However, they are not HEPA vacuums.

A true HEPA vacuum tends to have many levels of filtration. Only the finest particles are handled by HEPA filter at the end of the filtration process. In addition, true HEPA vacuum’s seals are specially designed to eliminate leaking of invisible dust. Just installing a HEPA filter in an average vacuum does not make it a HEPA vacuum at all. Instead, it is only a marketing trick and creates confusion about what a HEPA vacuum really is.

At Fresh Tech Maid Services, we use true HEPA vacuums endorsed by American Lung Association. We are determined to clean not only for appearance, but also for health.

A true green home cleaning company must have the integrity of green backed by certifications based on highest industry standard. I am very glad that Fresh Tech Maid Services is such a home cleaning company!