This blog was written without any paper waste.

"Green" products are seemingly everywhere these days. Marketers riding the green wave are flooding us with messages about environmental-friendly this and natural, sustainable that. We're surrounded by so many environmental claims that people are experiencing eco-anxiety as they try to figure out how to truly green their lives. How do you avoid greenwashing – misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a product or service – and make educated choices? Watch out for "The Six Sins of Greenwashing™" as defined by TerraChoice:

1. Sin of the hidden trade-off - the suggestion that a product is green based on an unreasonably narrow set of attributes without attention to other important environmental issues. Example: An electronic product that is really energy efficient, but laden with mercury.

2. Sin of no proof - a claim that cannot be substantiated by easily accessible information or third-party certification. Example: Personal care products (e.g. shampoo) that say they don't test on animals, but offer no evidence or certification.

3. Sin of vagueness - a claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real meaning is likely to be misunderstood by the consumer. Example: A product that claims it's "all natural." Arsenic, uranium, and mercury are all natural, and they're poisonous. "All natural" is totally meaningless without further elaboration.

4. Sin of irrelevance - a claim that may be truthful, but is unimportant and unhelpful for consumers seeking environmentally preferable products. Example: Products (e.g. disinfectant cleaners) that state they don't contain any CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), an ozone-depleting chemical. CFCs have been legally banned since the 1980s – no products contain them. So basically these companies are just obeying the law, not producing green products.

5. Sin of lesser of two evils - green claims that may be true within the product category, but risk distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the category as a whole. Example: Organic cigarettes. Enough said.

6. Sin of fibbing - environmental claims that are simply false. Example: Products that claim to be Energy Star qualified, and yet the U.S. Energy Star Program has no evidence of such certification.