Greenwashing: It’s Not Black and White

Welcome to the Greenwashing Index — home of the world’s first online interactive forum that allows consumers to evaluate real advertisements making environmental claims. “Going green” has become mainstream for businesses large and small — and that’s a good thing. http://www.greenwashingindex.com/

What’s not so great is when businesses make environmental marketing claims that can be misleading. The intent of this Web site is to:

1. Help consumers become more savvy about evaluating environmental marketing claims of advertisers;
2. Hold businesses accountable to their environmental marketing claims; and
3. Stimulate the market and demand for sustainable business practices that truly reduce the impact on the environment.

The integrity of today’s green ads can range from outstanding to outrageous, so it’s important for consumers to educate themselves on what makes environmental marketing claims truly authentic. The Greenwashing Index is an automated tool that provides five simple criteria developed by advertising academia and weighted according to their relevance in marketing claims. So, if you’ve seen a good or bad ad heralding the environmental qualities of a product or company, post it here, rank it according to the Greenwashing Index, and then come back to see how other consumers score it.

Register an account to start posting and rating ads.

Learn more about the criteria for the Greenwashing Index.

This site is promoted by EnviroMedia Social Marketing in partnership with the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.