Green label comes out in the wash 11-38 3rd March 2008

A label on a container of washing liquid has sparked an industry debate over the use of ‘greenwash’, the term for exaggerating or misrepresenting green credentials. Unilever has released a concentrated form of Omo, which has reduced packaging, giving it a green marketing edge.

Planet Ark marketing manager Anna Bowden says it’s the plant-based laundry products such as those under their Aware brand make a real difference. "Being concentrated does not make you environmentally friendly,” she states. Plant-based laundry products do not contain phosphates, which promote algal blooms in waterways, and have a low sodium content. While Omo’s ‘Small and Mighty’ is phosphate free with a low sodium content, the ingredients are not derived from plants.
 
Total Environment Centre spokesperson Jeff Angel regularly dobs in greenwashers but says Omo’s green claims are not false, therefore Unilever isn’t doing anything wrong. "Certainly less packaging is an important matter that companies can directly influence,” he noted. “It's good that the claims are specific as opposed to the easily misused terms which can get some companies into trouble."