A new app created by Greenpeace is designed to help consumers avoid being “greenwashed.” The Green Tissue Guide features a directory of over 150 tissue products, rating each paper towel, toilet paper and napkin brand for its degree of sustainability.
The app, which Greenpeace developed in-house, uses a colour-coded rating system (green, amber and red) to distinguish forest-friendly products from those that should be avoided. Users can type a product name into the app and instantly find out how it ranks. They can also browse by product or ranking.
In order for a product to receive the app’s green rating, it must be 100% recycled. If a product is less than 100% recycled but is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, it will receive an amber rating. A red rating is given to any product that contains no recycled fibre whatsoever and likely contributes to destructive forest practices. (Roughly fifty products in the app earned a green rating.) All products included in the app are available in the Canadian market.
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“We wanted to provide an independent and easy-to-use mobile app to help consumers sort through the greenwash and make the most forest-friendly choice in their tissue products,” said Shane Moffatt, a forest campaigner for Greenpeace Canada. Greenwashing is a term applied when brands purposely appear more eco-friendly than they are in an attempt to lure eco-conscious consumers. Moffatt called it an “ongoing problem” and said that product labels are not always accurate when describing sustainability.
According to Moffatt, shoppers have the right to know how their paper-purchasing decisions are affecting the world’s forests. Due to greenwashing, he said, consumers might not even recognize their own impact. “With this app, people can help prevent destructive forest practices by making informed choices at the counter,” he said.
“There are actually lots of low-cost, environmentally responsible tissue products out there,” said Moffatt. “This guide will help people identify these products… Canadians care about the bottom dollar, [but] they also care a lot about environmental issues.”
