By Roger Farabee Senior vice president of marketing, Columbia Flooring
When does green really mean green? Today’s consumers are inundated with green labeling. Much of this green labeling is confusing to the consumer and some of it is simply false advertising.

To remedy the situation, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued new green marketing regulations in an effort to reduce product greenwashing currently running unchecked in American marketing. In early October, the FTC issued proposed revisions that updated its original “Green Guides,” first published in 1992. The goal of the newest revisions to the Green Guides is to eliminate misrepresentation and fabrications made by companies in the environmental claims that appear in their marketing.

The FTC is seeking public comments on the proposed changes until Dec. 10, after which time it will decide which changes to make final.

Holding companies accountable
Previously updated over 10 years ago, the existing Green Guides regulations were not addressing environmental claims now common in today’s world, such as “renewable materials,” “renewable energy,” or “carbon offsets.”

The agency’s recently proposed update aims to clear up consumer confusion and also encourages companies to provide specifics about the materials and energy used in manufacturing.

The proposed Green Guides revisions inform companies that they will need “competent and reliable scientific evidence” for their marketing claims. While the Green Guides are not enforceable by law, the FTC can take action if it deems a company’s marketing to be unfair or deceptive.

Walmart’s ripple effect
In addition to the FTC decisively stepping in between industry and consumers to clear up misleading information, some of the nation’s biggest retail players have also begun putting pressure on their manufacturers to accurately communicate the environmental attributes of products.

Big boxes and large retailers are starting to require that their suppliers provide objective substantiation or third party verification of all green claims made about products.

For example, suppliers vying for a contract with mega-retailers are now many times required to provide information on their products such as LCA (life cycle analysis) or VOC (volatile organic compound) information.

When large players in the American retail market, such as Walmart, begin mandating certain requirements, there is almost always a ripple effect causing those requirements to become the future norm throughout an industry. The same holds true when the biggest players in the flooring industry mandate integrity and accuracy in the green labeling found in their suppliers and their own marketing.