GCI Green Healthy Building
GCI Green and Healthy Building Partnership
Green Product Certification
There are many shades of Green when it comes to products, and the easiest route is to embellish the qualities of a product that becomes mild to gross exaggerations. Greenwashing is a deceptive practice that uses the broad latitude of advertising to impress the public.
The facts show that most Green products are not nearly as Green, eco-safe, or health-friendly as they claim. And, there seems to be no way to verify the claims of product promoters.
Truth in Labelling []
What consumer want to know is that a product's claims are honest and real. Claiming to be organic or natural may be as simple as adding an organic or natural ingredient while the rest of the product ingredients are ... well ... not so good for our health.
The Green Clean Institute uses a carefully developed process that is done by a real person examining the product, the labeling, and the advertised claims against well-known source like EPA, OSHA, NIH, CERLA, or SARA lists of dangerous or possibly dangerous ingredients.
Earned, not Bought[]
Not only are there Greenwashed programs, there are Greenwashing certifications. Some large corporations have literally set up separate non-profit organizations that have the primary purpose of endorsing their product or service. Very clever actually, but still unfair. Advertising and promotion will always emphasize the good benefits and diminish the problem concerns, but too often they easily become deceptive and veiled attempts to boost consumer confidence.
The Green Clean Institute does not charge large fees for their service that become a heavy influence to certify a Green product. In fact, we take our decade-long existence as a Green training and certification program seriously. We charge a reasonable fee of $1500 for our review. The reason the fee is not $5,000 to $10,000 as charged elsewhere is because there is no reason for these enormous fees except to bar smaller competitors and assure a favorable report.