The United States makes over 200 million tons of garbage
each year. That is 400,000,000,000 pounds of garbage, weighing more than one
million adult blue whales!
In order to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills, there have been large-scale
campaigns to increase recycling of consumer materials. Consumers have become
more aware of their waste production as of late, and many companies use
branding on their products in order to appeal to the ecological awareness of
their consumers. Some of these branding campaigns do not live up to the
consumer’s interpretation. The one example I want to focus on is product
packaging labeled as ‘biodegradable’.
Landfills have numerous stipulations imposed by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that require the landfills to reduce
sunlight, air, and moisture, and prevent contaminants from reaching
groundwater. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires packaging labeled as
‘biodegradable’ to completely decompose within a reasonably short period under
customary methods of disposal. Due to the way landfills are presently designed,
many items such as biodegradable packaging will not break down. This fact in
addition to the lack of supportive evidence for these companies’ claims has
resulted in the FTC going after companies with misleading environmentally
friendly marketing. Despite the legal recourse, many companies continue to
mislead or lie to their consumers.
There are a lot companies that are making an effort to be environmentally
responsible due to the increase in consumer demand for it. But be aware that
many of these claims are not supported or are misleading due to the nature of
their use. By reading into misleading labels and determining how your purchases
and consumption affect waste production, you will help protect the environment while
being a more informed consumer and advocate for moral business practices.
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