17 October 2011
Media Release
The Wilderness Society Inc.

Today, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, The Wilderness Society and My Environment have released an international report detailing repeated failures of the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) forest certification standard. The report is being released globally today.

17 October 2011
Blue Line Media

A major international report – On the Ground 2011– accuses the industry-accepted forest standard, PEFC, of making false environmental protection claims.

Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) along with its Australian standard, AFS, is compared unfavourably with rival certification programme, FSC. The comprehensive review of PEFC practices in various countries around the world, including Australia, slams the accreditation.

28 November 2010
Business Day
by James Kirby

Call it sins of omission, being economical with the truth or just plain pulling the wool. It was always a problem in business, but with the rise of the ''green'' movement it just got much worse as companies try to look socially responsible but regularly fail when it comes to the crunch.

A few days ago it took a new turn. Traditionally, ''greenwashing'' has seen companies posing as environmentally friendly before some incident raised hard questions about the sincerity of their efforts.

26 October 2010
Choice Magazine

Shonky History Repeats...

Our test of fridges earlier this year turned up a rather unexpected surprise – and not just the leftover curry hiding at the back of the top shelf. We found the energy use for one of the LG models (the side-by-side GC-L197NFS) was way higher than their star label stated.

28 Sept 2010
Choice Magazine

Toilet paper packaging sports a massive amount of greenwash, but many of the statements on the packaging are unsubstantiated and can’t be proven. We purchased 21 brands of toilet paper and then star rated them for sustainability claims. View the results here.

Claims that count

• Recycled or sourced from sustainable plantations or forests - the most common environmental claim.
  

21 June 2010
Free Range Farmers Association Inc

Consumers will be ripped off by the Australian Egg Corporation Ltd's plans to relax rules for free range egg production.

Under a proposal outlined in Melbourne last Wednesday night(16th June), hens will allowed to be de-beaked as a matter or course, they can be locked up in sheds for 25 weeks and the stocking density can increase from 1500 to a massive 20,000 birds per hectare.

25 March 2010
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Reporter: Karen Barlow

Descriptions such as free range, farm fresh and free trade are used to attract consumers eyes and allay animal welfare concerns, but many are stuck on food with little scrutiny.

Transcript:
TONY JONES, PRESENTER: The saying goes you are what you eat, but do you really know what you're eating?

Descriptions such as "Free Range", "Organic", "Environmental", and "Farm Fresh" are used to attract consumer's eyes and allay concerns about animal welfare.

17 March 2010
The Sydney Morning Herald
by Melissa Singer

AN ELECTRONICS manufacturer with a history of making false environmental claims has been caught doctoring fridges to make them appear more energy efficient.

LG Electronics has agreed to compensate potentially thousands of consumers after two of its fridges - models L197NFS and P197WFS - were found to contain an illegal device that activates an energy-saving mode when it detects room conditions similar to those in a test laboratory.

3 February 2010
Eco Voice
by Mallesons Stephen Jaques

On 16 January 2008, the ACCC released an Issues paper entitled “The Trade Practices Act and carbon offset claims.” The paper identifies particular types of claims as to carbon neutrality in advertising that the ACCC considers to be problematic for the purposes of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA).

The ACCC is inviting stakeholders to comment on these issues with the eventual aim of developing a guide for business and consumers on “green” advertising.

July 2009
www.bindarri.com.au

Q - how do you sell woodchipped Australian native forest to an Australian market who is becoming more environmentally aware?

A - buy some offset credits and launch Australia's first carbon neutral paper.

Go Greenwash with ENVI

Australian Paper (AP), the manufacturer of ENVI has had a long history of sourcing fibre from native forests and has been subject to consumer boycotts.