When choosing how to market and advertise products or services, companies want to ensure that you are hearing and seeing whatever it is that will make you, the consumer, go out and make the decision to use their goods instead of others. Advertising has some tricky and sly ways of making people think and see only the good things about a product or service, and it may not even be true. One way that many companies are doing this today is a tactic that is called “greenwashing.” Being more environmentally friendly and aware is something that more and more people are trying to do in their lives, and so if someone sees that a product has more green qualities than a similar product, then he or she is likely to choose the greener one in the end. Advertising and PR for businesses are really taking advantage of this so that you will choose their product over another even though the claims might not be entirely true. So how can you avoid greenwashing. -Look for products that feature irrelevant claims that seem to be green. For example, if you see a product that is advertised as CFC free, then know that this claim is in fact irrelevant. By law it is a fact that CFCs are banned for use anyway, so the fact that a product mentions this in no way makes it greener. -Avoid vague claims on your products. Many companies are using claims like all-natural and organic on their products, when those claims are really very vague. There are many poisonous and toxic things out in the world that occur naturally and are therefore all-natural, so do not equate all-natural with green. -Do your homework and check for lies. Believe it or not, there are actually companies who lie and claim to be LEED certified, Energy Star certified, and Energy Star registered and they are quite the opposite. Research products and service before you make the decision to buy it, because you might be getting something that is not green at all. -Advertising can be quite tricky especially when you are looking to help out and be greener in your purchases. Be certain that you fully understand that there is definitely greenwashing going on encouraging you to but these products and services that might not be environmentally friendly at all. Do your research and find out for yourself who and what the greenest is.