New ‘Green Marketing’ guidelines in Canada

With all the hype about ‘going green’, Canadian consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of the products they purchase. What resources and energy were involved in producing the product? Is the product design sustainable? Can it be reused or recycled? Is it biodegradable? Is it made from recycled materials?
This has led to growing demand from consumers, government and industry for more environmental information about products in labeling and advertising. This type of communication of environmental claims is referred to as ‘green marketing’ – and it is hot.
It seems that every company is trying to claim their product is the best ‘green’ choice. Many of these environmental responsibility claims are extremely ‘creative’. As a result, there is mounting confusion among buyers about what is truly the environmentally appropriate choice.
Just this summer, the Canadian Competition Bureau and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) teamed up to produce new Canadian guidelines to help companies and advertisers avoid what is often referred to by industry insiders as ‘greenwash’, intentionally or inadvertently false claims about a company or product.
The new guidelines, Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers, are designed to ensure that companies are able to back up their claims with respect to eco-performance of their products or company. The goal is to eliminate ‘eco-confusion’ and mitigate concerns that greenwash is causing widespread skepticism and apathy among consumers in the marketplace. Essentially, it provides the tools that businesses need to ensure their advertising practices are not misleading and improve the accuracy of their environmental claims.
The guidelines, which can be found online at www.competitionbureau.gc.ca, have two objectives. They are designed to clarify how to apply the original ‘green’ standard (CAN/CSA-ISO 14021 Essentials standard) in a practical marketing situation. And they are also intended to guide industry and advertisers on complying with relevant sections of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging Act, and the Textile Labelling Act.
Using these new guidelines, an advertiser can clarify what is absolutely discouraged and determine how to make environmental claims that are not independently verified by a third party.
Specifically, the Environmental Claims guideline recommends against making vague claims that imply that a product is environmentally beneficial or benign – for example,  an aerosol product should not be labeled ‘ozone friendly’ and a gasoline product should not be touted as ‘eco-friendly.’
The guideline also strongly advises only making claims that are substantiated and verified. And it states that environmental claims should clearly indicate whether they apply to the complete product, to a certain component or to the packaging.
In addition, the guideline clearly states that “substance-free” claims need to be literally true and cannot convey a general impression that is false or misleading, such as a product claiming that it is free of a certain chemical and is safe for the environment but failing to disclose that it contains a different harmful chemical. This could be considered false or misleading.
These guidelines give more teeth to the possibility of applying penalties should a company engage in misleading advertising. If the Bureau concludes that a business has contravened the misleading advertising provisions of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, or the Textile Labelling Act, it can take action either criminally or civilly, and impose penalties that include:
Under the criminal regime, a fine at the discretion of the court and/or imprisonment for up to five years.
Under the civil regime, the maximum penalty is an administrative monetary penalty of up to $50,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a corporation.
Under the labelling statutes, there are provisions for product seizure, as well as potential criminal penalties for contravention of the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act or the Textile Labelling Act, that could result in fines of up to $10,000, as well as imprisonment of up to one year.
While these guidelines are another step in the direction of clarity in packaging and advertising, the reality is that the truly savvy consumer, attempting to make environmentally responsible product purchases, will have to do plenty of legwork on their own to ensure they know what they are buying and how it will impact on the environment.
Let’s face it. The growing number of ‘green’ claims are not always credible, objective or easily understood even with these guidelines.  It’s up to the consumer to research and know.