C ompanies have been making misleading claims about the eco-friendliness of their products for almost as long as people have cared about the environment. Back in 2007, the marketing firm TerraChoice went into an unnamed big-box retailer and evaluated the green-advertising claims of more than 1,000 products. "In response to the explosion of green marketing in recent years, the agency initiated a review of its Green Guides to ensure that they are responsive to today's marketplace," Vladeck said in his written testimony. [1]

For the past several months the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been working on updating their "Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims" better know as Green Guides. Section 5 of the FTC Act gives the agency the ability to "intervene" when businesses are misrepresenting their green performance. The original Green Guides have not been updated since 1998, which in view of all the progress with the greening of the global economy seems like an eternity. [2]