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'Green' claims by marketers go unchecked
2 September 2009:
Companies touting eco-friendly products or biodegradable packaging are supposed to abide by guidelines issued by the Federal Trade Commission in 1992. The FTC can take companies that ignore the so-called "Green Guides" to court and seek fines to reimburse consumers.
Since May 2000, the FTC has taken legal action against only three companies for violating the guidelines. All three complaints were announced June 9, the day of a congressional hearing about environmental marketing.
"There has been little to no enforcement of the 1992 guides," says environmental consultant Kevin Tuerff, whose company started a website aimed at exposing ads with questionable environmental claims. "They need to pick up the pace."
From 1992 to 2000, the FTC generally filed two or more complaints a year, but enforcement dropped off under President Bush.
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Source: USA TODAY