The FTC is cracking down on claims made on vendor's documents. This time the case was about paper plates sold at KMart. The manufacturer of the plates claimed they were "biodegradable in a backyard compost."
"In truth and in fact, American Fare paper plates will not completely break down and return to nature, i.e., decompose into elements found in nature, within a reasonably short period of time because a substantial majority of total municipal solid waste is disposed of by methods that do not present conditions that would allow for American Fare paper plates to completely break down."
Full run down on the article here.
What does this mean for your products? First, watch the language on your packaging. By now most building products are wrapped in paper/cardboard or very little plastic. It's ok to tell the truth and say that you are using less packaging than last year, but not ok to leave that wording on the package for the next few years. The first year, it's an improvement, the following years it's misleading.
What you can say forever is that your packaging is made from FSC certified forests and soy based inks. You can also suggest that they recycle the packaging and keep the low carbon footprint walking forward.
Consumer problems like this are a big flag to the commercial world. What happens there is voiced LOUDLY on the web and then carries back to the business to business sector.
What are you doing to lower your packaging footprint and voiceprint?
