Advertising Age (Adage.com, June 10, 2008) cites a study showing “68% of consumers believe companies are greenwashing or overstating their green claims.” We all know what happens when customers believe we’re blowing smoke at them.If you want folks to know about your greenness, the clearest path is out in the open. Be realistic about what you’re already doing and aspirational about about what’s yet to be done on the road to sustainable business practices.”

More and more, consumers are getting wise and reading labels, looking for certification seals and researching,” Ideal Bite’s Jennifer Boulden said. “Speak proudly about your accomplishments while acknowledging that there is still work to be done.”

And, indeed, there is work to be done. At InsideWork, we split the difference between those who worship the earth — clearly not an option for people who worship the Creator — and those who regard nature as no more than a collection of consumable resources. As Paul notes in his letter to the Christians in Rome, our glory is yet to come:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Romans 8:18-21, New International Version

If God’s work redeems all creation along with us, surely a bit of creation care is included in our job descriptions. For more on this notion, see Air, Water, Earth, Beasts. And maybe go easy on the greenwashing in your marketing.