MNN - Mother Nature Network

If you’re tired of raising a skeptical eyebrow at all those clean coal ads, you’re not alone. In fact, Futerra, an eco-motivated communications agency in the U.K., has gone so far as to put together The Greenwash Guide (PDF) to help separate the real green dreals from the greenwashing. (via Tiny Choices)

 

The Greenwash Guide’s cutely designed and illustrated — and the writing’s wittily informative. Open up this free PDF guide to get a sense of what green attributes you should look for in products — and what greenwashed claims to ignore. Futerra even provides annotated samples of both laudable and greenwashed ads.

 

 

The guide tends to be very U.K.-specific, with frequent references to the “green Pound” — but greenwashing’s clearly a big problem in the U.S. too. Today, American Public Media’s The Greenwash Brigade blog put together its list of 2008’s Greenwashes of the Year.

 

Energy companies are car makers are the sectors most often called out, but FIJI water’s greenwashed campaign tops The Greenwash Brigade’s list. Peruse the list for more details — and learn to avoid greenwashed products in 2009.