Archives: Green Washing

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Greenwashing Lawsuit Alleging Plastic Pollution by PepsiCo is Dismissed

After this blog was posted, on December 9, 2024, Letitia James, the Attorney General of the State of New York filed a Notice Of Appeal of her office’s loss described below, to the Supreme Court of the State of New York. On October 31, PepsiCo won a victory obtaining the complete dismissal with prejudice of … Continue Reading

Greenwashing? Court Says Coca-Cola’s Aspirational Statements May Mislead Consumers

A recent ruling from a federal appellate court is bringing new attention to claims of greenwashing including specifically that a business’s aspiration statements about environmental matters (e.g., “we will be net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040” or “we will use at least 50% recycled material in our packaging by 2030”) can be actionable. The … Continue Reading

FTC Says Updated Green Guides are Coming

With allegations of greenwashing all but de rigueur, businesses should be on the alert for the soon to be released Federal Trade Commission’s updated Green Guides. This year companies are being publicly challenged and having their reputations tarnished for greenwashing, in some instances for deceptive misrepresentations, others for unintentionally misleading, and more often than not, … Continue Reading

ESG Accelerates Greenwashing

A growing number of American businesses and consumers are looking to invest in and purchase ESG friendly companies and their products and services. Companies have responded with ESG disclosures touting the environmental and social benefits of what they’re selling. Sidestepping for a moment those companies that set out to intentionally deceive other about their ESG bonafides, … Continue Reading

A Call for Comprehensive and Clearer ESG Disclosures

Last Wednesday, with a Dutch court finding Royal Dutch Shell partially responsible for climate change and ordering it to reduce emissions and two environmental activists being voted to Exxon Mobil board at the annual meeting, made clear how dramatically the landscape is shifting for all businesses in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) space, as … Continue Reading

FTC Finds Truly Organic is Not

By way of a federal court order that became final last month, Truly Organic Inc. and its founder will pay $1.76 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission greenwashing complaint alleging that their nationally marketed bath and beauty products are neither “certified organic” nor “vegan” as falsely claimed. According to the FTC’s complaint, in this … Continue Reading

FTC Warning about Green Certification Seals

Image Federal Trade Commission
Three weeks ago the Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters to 5 providers of environmental certification seals and 32 businesses using those green seals, alerting them to the Agency’s concerns that the seals could be considered deceptive in violation of federal law. The FTC enforces the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, which … Continue Reading
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