I’m a big fan of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. The peppermint and tea tree sorts both smell awesome and make my skin feel great! I was delighted when I read an article this morning about him suing several cosmetic companies for improperly using the term organic!

If you aren’t familiar with the term Greenwashing, my friend Robert wrote a really rad article on it for How Stuff Works. Basically, greenwashing is when a company tries to make itself appear earth-friendly to appeal to the “green consumer” through deceptive packaging, labeling and advertising. How disgusting! Trickery like this makes it feel impossible for the consumer to make good, sustainable choices. Is that “all natural” shampoo really “all natural?” When folks find out they’ve been deceived, I think the tendency is to give up, rather than to be more diligent. Folks just don’t have the time and energy to be on constant alert, and I don’t blame them one bit! It’s the company’s responsibility to be honest to its customer. I know that once I feel decieved by a company, I avoid its products at all costs and suspect I’m not alone there. Greenwashing is not just unethical, it strikes me as really bad business.

So hurrah to Dr. Bronner for calling a few of these companies out!