I have had it up to here with green marketing claims that have no basis in reality. I hate to break it to you, but all aluminum foil is recyclable and the Montreal Protocol of 1987 banned CFCs so virtually everything new is CFC free. All this greenwashing is just plain getting out of control.

Greenwashing is the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly… (Wikipedia)

Greenwashing not only misleads the public into paying more for products that are no “greener” than any other similar product, but it can also lead consumers to purchase products that are actually worse for the environment. For example a company may remove materials from a product to cut costs while claiming this makes the product greener, while in reality, the reduction of materials actually reduces the product’s performance, shortens the product’s life, and reduces the products energy efficiency.

A Solar Powered Hummingbird

Another popular greenwashing tactic is the creation of a product with green features that don’t really provide any significant benefit. Check out the solar powered humming bird. Sure the product uses solar power, but come on, a ½ W of solar does not make you or your product any greener.

If you are going to do green, do it in a way that actually has an impact. Add 12” of insulation to your attic, put 10 kW (not 0.4 kW) of solar panels on your roof, turn your thermostat up 5 degrees or better yet turn off the A/C and use a fan instead. Stop the greenwashing and start doing something that really has an impact.