Greenwashing Checker: test the words on the pack
Paste the copy. See which claims mean something and which mean nothing.
Most environmental marketing is legal, fluent and empty. Words like natural, eco-friendly, conscious, green and responsible carry no legal definition in most markets, so any brand can print them on anything. The result is a shelf where the loudest packaging is often the weakest product.
The Greenwashing Checker reads marketing copy the way a regulator would. It flags every claim that cannot be verified, explains why the phrasing is weak, and gives you the precise follow-up question that would force a real answer.
Key takeaways
- Every EthiCompare rating is a 0–100 score built from five weighted pillars, not a pass/fail badge.
- Certifications are auditable evidence; adjectives like "natural", "green" or "conscious" are not.
- Missing disclosure costs a brand points — we never assume the best case for an unanswered question.
- Ownership matters: a certified brand inside a group that still tests where the law demands it is a different decision.
- Scores and sources are re-checked continuously, and every page shows the evidence behind the number.
The patterns it catches
Greenwashing is formulaic. Once you know the templates, you see them everywhere.
- Undefined virtue words: natural, eco, clean, conscious, pure, responsible, planet-friendly.
- Unquantified improvement: greener, better for the planet, reduced impact — reduced from what baseline?
- Irrelevant claims: CFC-free on a product where CFCs have been banned for decades.
- Hidden trade-offs: recyclable packaging on a product whose footprint sits almost entirely in the ingredients.
- Self-issued badges: a house-designed leaf logo that looks like a certification but audits nothing.
- Future pledges used as present-tense credentials: carbon neutral by 2040 printed as if it were today.
What a strong claim looks like
A credible claim is specific, measurable, third-party verified and covers a material part of the product's footprint. "78% post-consumer recycled PET, verified by SCS Global" is a claim. "Made with the planet in mind" is a mood.
The checker distinguishes the two and shows you which of the claims in your text would survive scrutiny under emerging rules such as the EU Green Claims Directive and the UK Green Claims Code.
Using it before you buy — or before you publish
Shoppers use it to sanity-check a product page before ordering. Brand and sustainability teams use it in reverse: paste your own draft copy and remove the claims you cannot substantiate before a regulator or a journalist does it for you.
How to use this page in four steps
The guide below explains the thinking; this is the fastest route from question to decision.
- 1
Start with the score
The 0–100 number tells you where a product or brand sits against everything else we track in the same category.
- 2
Open the evidence
Each pillar links to the certification, policy page or report behind it, so you can verify the claim yourself.
- 3
Check the ownership
Parent-company policies can override a brand's own promises in markets where testing or sourcing rules differ.
- 4
Compare alternatives
Every page ends with better-scoring options in the same category and price band, so switching takes one click.
How the score is calculated
Every product is graded 0–100 across five weighted pillars. Nothing is pay-to-play: brands cannot buy a position, and a missing disclosure costs points rather than being assumed positive.
| Pillar | Weight | What we look at |
|---|---|---|
| Animal welfare | 25% | Third-party cruelty-free and vegan certification, animal-derived inputs, testing policy in every market the brand sells in. |
| Materials & sourcing | 25% | Organic, recycled or regenerative inputs, traceability to farm or mill, deforestation and biodiversity risk. |
| Labour & human rights | 20% | Living-wage commitments, published supplier lists, audit results and remediation, Fair Trade certification. |
| Packaging & waste | 15% | Recycled content, plastic intensity, refill or take-back options, real end-of-life recyclability. |
| Transparency | 15% | Public reporting, verifiable claims, parent-company disclosure and how quickly the brand answers questions. |
Reading the score
Leader · 80–100
Multiple independent certifications, published supply chain, credible reductions.
Strong · 65–79
Solid certified core with one weak pillar, usually packaging or labour disclosure.
Mixed · 50–64
Real progress in places, significant gaps elsewhere — read the detail before buying.
Weak · 0–49
Little verified evidence, or an ownership structure that contradicts the marketing.
What to look for before you buy
A ranking gets you to a shortlist; these checks tell you whether a specific product is right for your household. Work through them in order — the first two rule out most greenwashing on their own.
- Check the certification, not the adjective: a logo from Leaping Bunny, Vegan Society, GOTS, Fair Trade or B Corp is auditable; the words "natural" and "clean" are not.
- Look up the parent company — a certified brand owned by a group that still tests where the law requires it is a different decision than an independent one.
- Read the full ingredient or material list, not the front-of-pack claim; a single animal-derived or high-impact input can undo the rest.
- Prefer refills, concentrates and take-back schemes: packaging is usually the fastest win in this category.
- Compare cost per use rather than shelf price — durable and concentrated products almost always win over a year.
- Buy the thing you will actually finish or wear a hundred times; the lowest-impact purchase is still the one you do not replace.
Label decoder: claims vs. certifications
Most on-pack wording is unregulated. Use this table to translate a claim into what it actually guarantees, and what to ask the brand when it does not.
| Claim on pack | What it actually guarantees | What to check instead |
|---|---|---|
| Cruelty-free | Nothing on its own — the term is not legally defined in the EU, UK or US. | A Leaping Bunny or Cruelty Free International logo, plus confirmation the brand does not sell where testing is required. |
| Vegan | Usually no animal-derived ingredients, but self-declared and rarely covers processing aids. | Vegan Society or V-Label certification, and whether shared equipment is used. |
| Natural / clean | Nothing. Both terms are marketing language with no standard behind them. | The full INCI or material list, and an organic certification such as GOTS, COSMOS or EU organic. |
| Eco-friendly / green | Nothing verifiable; increasingly restricted by EU greenwashing rules. | A specific, measured claim — recycled content percentage, certified supply chain, or a published footprint. |
| Recyclable | Technically recyclable somewhere, not necessarily in your municipal system. | Whether the pack is mono-material, and whether the brand runs a take-back or refill scheme. |
| Carbon neutral | Often offsets rather than reductions, and offsets vary wildly in quality. | Absolute emissions cuts against a base year and a validated science-based target. |
Terms you will see on this page
Plain-English definitions of the labels, standards and jargon used across EthiCompare.
- Leaping Bunny
- The strictest international cruelty-free standard: a fixed cut-off date for animal testing, supplier declarations and third-party audits.
- GOTS
- Global Organic Textile Standard — certified organic fibre content plus environmental and social criteria along the whole supply chain.
- B Corp
- A company-level certification scoring governance, workers, community, environment and customers; re-verified every three years.
- Fair Trade
- Certification guaranteeing minimum prices and a community premium to producers, with audited labour standards.
- Greenwashing
- Environmental marketing that is vague, unverifiable or unrepresentative of the product's real footprint.
- Cost per use
- Price divided by realistic lifetime uses — the number that shows whether a durable or concentrated product is actually cheaper.
Frequently asked questions
Does a flag mean the brand is lying?+
No. It means the claim as written cannot be verified by a reader. Many flagged claims are true but poorly evidenced.
Is my pasted text stored?+
No. The check runs for your session only and nothing is retained.
Can I use it on my own product copy?+
Yes, and that is one of its most useful applications — it surfaces unsubstantiated claims before publication.
Does EthiCompare accept payment from brands?+
No. Rankings are never sold and no brand can pay to appear, move up or remove a controversy. Where affiliate links exist they never influence a score, and the methodology is public.
How often are scores updated?+
Certifications, policies and controversies are re-checked continuously and each page shows when its underlying profile was last updated. Material changes — a lost certification, a new testing policy — are reflected as soon as they are verified.
What happens when a brand does not answer?+
Unanswered questions score as unverified, not as positive. That deliberately penalises silence: transparency is one of the five pillars and it is worth 15% of the total.
Is the guide available in other languages?+
Yes — every guide is published in English, Spanish, German and French with fully translated content, and the language switcher at the top keeps you on the same page.
Keep reading
Label & Certification Lookup: what the logo actually proves
Every mark, what it audits — and what it quietly leaves out.
Ingredient Decoder: read any label in ten seconds
Free, instant, and nothing you paste is ever stored.
Methodology: how every score is calculated
Published in full, applied identically, open to challenge.
Reviewed and maintained by the EthiCompare editorial team.