You may already be familiar with Defra’s Green Claims Code. For 10 years it has set out best practice on the content of environmental claims including accuracy, truthfulness, relevance, use of unambiguous terminology, presentation of claims and comparative claims. 

About a year ago I blogged that Defra was consulting on an update to its guidance - well, the final consultation paper is now published. It is open for comment until 15 June this year.

I will put in a response. I'm very likely to echo the views of the great people at Futerra who have pointed out how toothless the guidance appears to be. (Read also this viewpoint by Fred Pearce in the Guardian).

But in the meantime, a flurry of new rules and guidance has emerged this year to help us understand what more we need to do to promote our green credentials in a way that guarantees greater credibility, consumer protection and social responsibility.

In January the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) published a framework and practical checklist for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications (PDF).

The influential Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) also published its new codes just weeks ago. They bring in additional explicit rules designed to prevent exaggerated environmental promises by products, services and organisations.

The new CAP codes come into effect this September and will be regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority. They state that advertisers must ensure all environmental claims are crystal clear to consumers and all absolute claims must be backed by a “high level of substantiation”. We must acknowledge areas where scientific opinion is divided. We must also base environmental claims on the full lifecycle of the product.

It’s not just about standalone statements in some advertising copy. Linking a single, truthful claim (“we use natural paint to ensure no volatile organic compounds...”) with a broader claim (“Acme Homes are kinder to the planet…”) is likely to get us into hot water.  Even a scientifically accurate claim can be misleading if, taken out of context, it implies or omits something relevant.

The rules apply over all paid-for media, and even to websites and social media. 

And it goes well beyond what words we use – green claims can include pictures, colours and logos as well. 

PR consultants like myself may breathe a sign of relief that, technically, we’re immune - neither the CAP nor the ICC codes apply directly to ‘corporate communications’.  We argue that PR about a company’s aspirations and sustainability initiatives, its annual reports or CSR statements are usually provided in a context that will ensure there is no confusion with advertising claims. And anyway, we mutter, the media loves absolutes and hyperbole and has no time for all this qualified language.

However, we would be daft not to take on board every one of these new rules. 

It’s not as if it’s all so alien – the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) published guidelines on communicating about sustainability two years ago.

Green marketing is no different from regular marketing.  Business ethics still hold. Waging war on little green lies will protect corporate reputations, build more confident businesses and counter the cynics out to knock the industry.

10 top tips to avoid greenwash

1. If you talk about sustainability, energy,  waste, water, raw materials, noise,  air quality, global warming, greenhouse gases, wildlife, human health, toxins or other environmental topics in your marketing and PR, make sure you read up on the new codes and international standards like ISO 14021 which clarify requirements on environmental labelling.
2. Do an audit. Check the words, the pictures, the colours, the logos. 
3. Look at everything through the eyes of your most cynical competitor. Then apply what I call the Mum Test (would a “reasonable consumer” understand what this claim really means?)
4. Watch out for words like ‘reduced energy’, ‘reduced waste’ etc. Always make it clear what has been reduced.  Only make a feature of it if it has resulted in a significant environmental improvement taking all aspects of life cycle into account.
5. Verify as much as you can.  At the bottom of your advertisements, press releases and marketing literature, provide links to a section on your website where you publish the independent scientific evidence that backs up your claim.
6. Not everything has to have a full dossier addressing every conceivable impact of the product on the environment, but the greater the value being placed on the claim, the more robust verification needs to be.
7. If you’re planning a major campaign to promote your green credentials, first do some thorough consumer testing and perception research.
8. Reassess your claims regularly. Check whether circumstances have changed or what the latest scientific and technical evidence says.
9. Communicate the journey, not just the end result.  No one expects you to be zero carbon today. But you can gain respect by honestly communicating what actions have been carried out to help you work towards it.
10. Make sure your PR, advertising and digital marketing agencies understand the technical details.  No more fluff.  Demand compliance with the new legal requirements and best practice in communicating about sustainability.

PS. Need more advice? Check out my earlier blog posts on the '10 steps to absolution' from the 'Six Sins of Greenwashing'!

Just back from the first day of Ecobuild 2010, and a fantastic day meeting old friends, colleagues, journalists and many clients past and present.

The show, billed as "the biggest event in the world for sustainable design, construction and the built environment", is definitely one of the highlights of our year, and a fruitful source of ideas for this blog.

There is much I could explore in terms of the exhibition this year (many more products, lots more greenwash), or the marketing strategies on display (including some interesting examples of how not to promote your organisation at an event like this), but for now let me just tell you about a short debate I sat in on this afternoon in the Arena, on the issue of the media's role in promoting sustainability.

The panel was Eve Pollard (former tabloid editor), Alastair McGowan (impressionist, TV star and environmental campaigner) and Peter Bazalgette (of Endemol/Big Brother fame). They were chaired by the ever-sceptical Andrew Neil who revelled in his role as devil's advocate.

The debate confirmed my suspicion that the last people on earth you should ask about communicating sustainability are a bunch of media celebs:

• Andrew Neil focused heavily on Climategate and other examples of eco mis-selling as justification for unlimited cynicism,
• Alastair McGowan sadly failed to counter any of this, instead complaining that the media don't get behind sustainability as much as they should because of "fear of facing our mortality",
• Eve Pollard launched her big idea that Ecobuild exhibitors should all be marketing their products to women via glossy consumer mags because "women are inherently sustainable",
• and Peter Bazalgette insisted that the media's role was to question and interrogate any use of the word 'sustainable' and we should not expect the media to 'promote' anything.

My view? Well, yes I did take the opportunity to rant back at the panel, I admit. 

They all had some interesting points, especially about the damage that is done by greenwash.

But my view was that we should all be a lot more positive. While they were sitting around debating whether green was good and whether the media should or could get involved, the rest of us were getting on with it.

Hardly a day goes by without me seeing a new 'green living', 'green building' or 'green business' column in a paper, feature in a magazine or programme on TV or radio. Most parts of the media are very interested in examples of environmental sustainability, especially when it touches our day-to-day lives.

Journalists are often just as excited as we are by the sorts of innovations we saw at Ecobuild. They are not tuning out to ponder their mortality. They are not dismissing genuine news stories out of world-weary cynicism. They are open to ideas and examples of sustainability in practice - and I for one was very proud of the efforts and achievements of the many people I saw at Ecobuild who were marketing and promoting their work to the media with real flair and enthusiasm.

If you have been interested in my previous blog posts on environmental claims in business and the best ways to avoid greenwash, you might be interested to hear that Defra, the Institute for Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and the ISBA (another advertisers' body) are hosting a series of free workshops this month to get input into their planned revisions for the Green Claims Code (last revised in 2003).

Unfortunately, there is not a workshop dedicated purely to property or construction (a serious oversight IMHO, given the huge surge in interest in low and zero carbon buildings and communities, ecotowns and all things 'sustainable').

But the event in London next week (15 May) will cover utilities, energy and energy-using appliances, construction and industrial and... er, furniture.

The workshops are aimed at:

"getting businesses to contribute to the new green claims guidance which will help businesses understand how to make truthful and transparent claims about the environmental credentials of their products."

The events will apparently cover all aspects of advertising and marketing communications.

Defra's press notice on this came out just days before the first workshop, so I hope they still manage to get a reasonable turnout. I can't be at the event next week, but if you can I'd be fascinated to hear how it goes. The 15 May workshop will be at Wallacespace St Pancras, 22 Dukes Road, WC1H 9PN. Registration and breakfast at 8.30am. To request a place, email clare@ruthvenstuart.co.uk.

Following on from my earlier post, here are some Easter-tide thoughts on 10 steps towards absolving a business from the 'Six Sins of Greenwashing'^TM (TerraChoice):

1. Let's audit what you say about your business at the moment, looking at the whole life cycle of what you do/produce and how you do it. Also what you don't say. There may be more that you could be celebrating than you realise, and there is some great advice out there from organisations like Futerra on 'words that sell' and how to make your green news even more compelling.

2. Let's find the proof. If you haven't done this already, let's pull in the experts to measure what you do to protect or improve the environment. As the old adage says, you can't manage what you don't measure. The greater the value being placed on a claim the more robust the verification needs to be. (Actually, it is now arguable that all PR professionals should demand to see the evidence up front before setting pen to paper. If clients have not yet started the process of gathering evidence, then that press release should probably be shelved for a while. Green stories need to be told, but given the media and society's scrutiny these days, and the vitriol poured upon anyone accused of greenwash, this will soon become the only way to protect our clients' reputations and ensure that green claims don't come back to bite later).

3. Let's talk about why you do it. Be honest. Are environmental claims required simply as part of your competitive language (in which case, proceed with the utmost caution and strategic clarity), or because they are at the heart of your brand values (in which case let's find even better ways to show it)?

4. Let's look again at where you do it. Can your carbon-cutting activities be extended further throughout your business or supply chain maybe? Is the whole house in order? If not, why not? (You'll be asked that question by a journalist).

5. Time for a quick calculation - do you put more money, time and energy into promoting your sustainability credentials than you actually invest in the activities themselves? I'm not looking for any client to reduce its fees on PR of course! But we will challenge any client to consider whether the balance is always quite right.

6. Let's check how your stakeholders are responding. Do they see your activities as spin or as genuine commitment?

7. Let's communicate the journey, not just the end result, and if necessary find suitable words for an act of contrition. Warn the Board. As Nick Reilly has pointed out, moving to a genuinely positive attitude towards improving the sustainability of your business may mean you will need to confess to a recent change of attitude - perhaps even leaving you at a competitive disadvantage for a while. But this will set you upon a new base from which you can build with confidence and integrity and outstrip your competitors.

8. Let's get clear on the correct use of language. The media can itself be very lazy using fluffy terms like 'eco-friendly' and 'sustainable', but we need to work together to improve accuracy in our words (and our pictures too). 'Zero carbon' will hopefully be defined by this summer, so that should make life easier. 'Carbon neutral' is also being defined at the moment - a little-publicised consultation by DECC should help sort this out by October 09 latest.

9. Let's follow the CIPR guidelines and its 10 practical tips for any green PR campaign. Also be aware of the forthcoming update of Defra's Green Claims Code.

10. Finally, let's all just slow down a bit. In the current green goldrush, it's very easy to get swept along with enthusiasm, make mistakes or over-claim when we're in a hurry. Most greenwash is not caused by malice, but comes as a result of moving too fast, without enough strategic thinking or attention to detail. "Slow down to live a good life", as a Zen master somewhere is bound to have said...

A press release from the Carbon Trust caught my eye a few weeks ago. It announced the results of a You Gov poll into consumer attitudes towards buying green:

"The research shows that a business's green credentials have a significant impact on consumer buying choices. Two thirds (65%) of consumers say it's important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with one in seven (14%) saying they have voted with their feet by deciding not to buy from a company based on their environmental reputation and almost a quarter based on a company's ethical reputation..."

Quite properly, it turns out that 59% of us are sceptical about the environmental claims companies make (sounds a bit low actually), and 44% of consumers would like more information on what companies are actually doing to be environmentally responsible. Public sector organisations are expected to be even more proactive in tackling climate change and cutting carbon.

But where do we find the 'proof' we need to judge an organisation's green claims?

Interestingly, it turns out that the two most important criteria currently used by consumers to make a judgement are:

* what they read in the media (38%) and
* third party endorsement or accreditation (34%).

Green advertising is by far the least convincing, and makes an easy target for campaign groups dedicated to weeding out greenwash. For example, at the end of last year Greenpeace launched its first Emerald Paintbrush Awards for advertising greenwash (great video guys!), and it surely won't be long before the UK gets its own version of this website which allows people to rate advertisements against a Greenwashing Index. Unsurprisingly, the advertising industry's regulatory body is now proposing a clampdown on bogus green claims following a big rise in complaints over recent years (the consultation is open until 19 June 09 by the way, in case you'd like to contribute).

Probably largely because of the eco-hyperbole of so many advertising campaigns, media and public scrutiny of green claims is getting sharper by the day. The Guardian launched an online column about greenwashing last year, and there are plenty of bloggers prepared to cry foul - take a look at Mark Brinkley's wonderful EcoBollocks Awards for example.

PR consultants like myself have to be very careful. Most journalists are born cynical, but in a recession like this their eyebrows shoot even higher when companies in the construction and property industries tout their environmental credentials. If our clients are to protect their hard-won reputations, they need to know how best to avoid even accidental greenwash (and it is usually unintentional).

A couple of years ago a marketing firm in the States, TerraChoice, conducted a study into environmental claims in US consumer markets. The result was its (trademarked!) "Six Sins of Greenwashing".

This work is just as relevant to companies in the UK's construction and property industries. 

For example, the Six Sins were brought to life by Nick Reilly, a sustainability specialist working in the UK construction industry, when he considered how they might apply to a contractor.

Inspired by Nick, here are some of my own examples of the Six Sins in action:

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off - eg. our exciting new building product will ensure thermal mass and help you reduce carbon emissions (even though the other greenhouse gases involved in its manufacture are horrendous, it creates greater dust pollution during transportation and installation etc...)

2. Sin of No Proof - eg. our new low energy homes deliver the highest standards of eco-friendly living (but no, we haven't done any testing or post-occupancy evaluation and we haven't got around to formal Code assessment yet...)

3. Sin of Vagueness - eg. our products are natural, chemical-free and made from recycled materials (how much or what sort of recycled content we can't tell you, and actually nothing is ever chemical-free...)

4. Sin of Irrelevance - eg. we guarantee all our products to be ozone-friendly and CFC-free (never mind the fact that CFCs were banned from use 20 years ago...)

5. Sin of Fibbing - eg. our building methods achieve outstanding levels of airtightness (when we build in Germany, but not here in the UK...)

6. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils - eg. we use the highest quality hardwoods to reduce use of artificial materials and ensure a more natural living environment (although we don't particularly care where the hardwood comes from...)

TerraChoice found that Sins 1 and 2 (hidden trade-off and no proof) are by far the most common errors made in green marketing campaigns, both in consumer and B2B markets. I have no doubt we would find the same among many of the organisations in our sector.

In a future blog post I shall consider ways in which we can work together to avoid these sins. [Postscript: See blog post '10 Steps to Absolution']