Sixty-nine percent of adult consumers in the United States say they factor in sustainability when making purchasing decisions, and this number is growing. So, this fall, when the Federal Trade Commission issued its first revisions since 1998 to the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims ("Green Guides"), businesses paid attention.
Ernst & Young's new report, The 3 S's of environmental marketing, provides a comprehensive overview of what businesses, marketers and advertisers need to know about the Green Guide revisions, as well as five steps to mitigate the risks in making environmental claims:
• Inventory environmental claims
• Conduct an environmental footprint analysis
• Identify the compliance framework
• Conduct an environmental claims assessment
• Assess substantiation and the entire process