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Fashion retailers warned on ‘green’ terms

Ireland’s consumer-rights watchdog is one of 20 global organisations that have warned fashion retailers not to exploit consumers’ concern for the environment.

An open letter to the sector has been published by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), a global network of consumer-protection law-enforcement authorities.

According to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), the letter sets out principles to help fashion retailers when making environmental claims and aims to ensure that traders comply with consumer-protection laws.

‘Vague’ terms

It urges retailers to avoid “vague and general claims”, and warns them not to use terms such as ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ about an item without evidence.

“This is unlikely to be true for a product in a polluting industry like the textile industry,” the consumer watchdogs state, urging retailers to stick to “accurate claims backed up by certification”.

Among the other principles for retailers are:

• Do not overstate the significance of environmental measures,
• Avoid claims based on data that is not sufficiently specific to the product,
• Avoid use of self-made labelling schemes and misuse of third-party certifications,
• Be specific when using ‘sustainability’ filters in online stores, and
• Focus marketing on specific measures already being taken, rather than future aspirations.

‘Undue emphasis’

The letter cites the example of reductions the amount of water used in making jeans.

It says that, while this can be a positive improvement, this reduction could account for a small fraction of the overall emissions and negative environmental impact of the production of the jeans.

The improvement should then not be given undue emphasis in the marketing, according to the letter.