As a consumer, you have been bombarded lately with a dizzying array of “green” advertising. You may be wondering if there isn’t a lot of “greenwashing” going on. You know what I mean: green-hype or false labeling from companies suddenly claiming to be eco-friendly in order to cash in on the current “green” trend. What’s really astonishing is the fact that much of the greenwashing is coming from the very companies that have built their reputation on dangerous products. Many of these mainstream companies now wish to tout their meager “green” accomplishments while continuing to aggravate larger environmental and safety issues.

What should we make of the new Clorox line of Green Works?

From what I’ve heard anecdotally and from a recent NPR story, the Green Works line offers an effective, eco-friendly alternative to traditional household cleaners. More significantly, the Green Works line was blind tested against leading conventional cleaners and held its own. In other words, Green Works!

I recently spotted the Green Works line in my local grocery store. Interestingly enough, the products were placed near the “feel good” section of recycled paper products and organic canned food. Several aisles away, the conventional Clorox cleaners were in their same old haunt – near the other competing brands of toxic products. In case you’ve been in a time warp and have missed the news that conventional cleaning products pose safety risks, the National Safety Council issued the following warning to families a few years ago: “More children under four die of accidental poisonings at home than are accidentally killed with guns at home.”

It is curious to me that the Clorox Company separates its new Green Works line from its traditional line in the grocery stores. They also isolate Green Works from their conventional products on the web. There is a separate web site for the Green Works with just a tiny Clorox log on the bottom and in the corner that would be easy to miss.

In my opinion, the Clorox Company is making a cynical attempt to cash in on the green movement. Both web sites feature families and small children, sending the not-so-subtle message that use of their products is safe. But that’s simply not true. As many of us are learning, traditional household cleaners – the stuff under the sink we were all raised with — contain very dangerous chemicals that put both the user and the environment in harms way. Specifically, bleach fumes can cause or exacerbate skin irritation, asthma, allergies and respiratory problems. And we’ve all heard the horror stories of families inadvertently mixing a bleach product with one containing ammonia. The resulting chemical fumes can be deadly. And then there is the issue of phosphates in dish machine gel contributing to algae growth in our waterways.

I, for one, will never buy a product manufactured by the Clorox Company because in my view they do not have a green heart. They are schizophrenic in their approach to eco-friendly values. One the one hand they make zillions of dollars promoting conventional cleaning products for the home in spite of the documented risks of harsh chemicals to families and to the larger environment as these products go down the drain or end up in the trash. And on the other they want to cash in on the green movement with their Green Works line of cleaning products.

I prefer to give my money to companies that are truly green from the inside out – and not simply “greenwashed.” There are great companies out there whose authentic green values guide them in the manufacturing, packaging and distribution of safer, eco-friendly cleaning products that work extremely well!

There are great companies out there that would be proud to have all their products displayed together without worrying that such chumminess on a store shelf would send a confused, contradictory messages to the consumer: “Buy our safer, effective green products because they avoid harsh chemicals. Buy our conventional products because bleach, ammonia and phosphates, etc. are necessary to really clean your family’s home!” Which is it??