Green claim copy vs published Green-Guides factors for marketers and product teams
Methodology: Green Guides patterns · claim qualifiers · human review
Paste your environmental or sustainability marketing claim before it ships. Get a scored pre-check report — is it an unqualified umbrella term like “eco-friendly”, does a specific claim (recyclable, compostable, recycled content, carbon neutral) carry the qualifier the guides require, is the wording absolute or overbroad, and is a certification named and scoped — based on the FTC Green Guides (16 CFR Part 260). A heads-up, not a legal opinion.
1. What the engine owns
Severity-ranked findings from pasted environmental-claim wording against heuristics derived from the FTC Green Guides (16 CFR Part 260 — general environmental benefit claims, recyclable / recycled content / compostable / degradable / free-of / non-toxic / renewable energy and materials / carbon offsets, and certifications). Check families: vague / unqualified umbrella terms (“eco-friendly”, “sustainable”, “green” with no specific attribute); absolute or zero-impact wording (“100% green”, “zero waste”); carbon / climate claims that need method disclosure; recyclable / compostable / recycled-content claims that lack the qualifier their section expects; and evidence / certification advisories (unnamed seals, net-zero theatre) that never invent lab results. Scores dock per HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW finding (advisories never dock); the rule snapshot is dated by the engine version — it is not synced with regulator pages in real time. Demo is labelled Rule-based — never silent mock.
2. What optional AI may do
Explain or polish findings when a key is configured. Upstream failure returns 502. No invented findings, no quotes from copy you did not paste, no life-cycle or certification lookup the engine did not run.
3. What you must do
- Review findings against your own product data, lab reports and certifications — only you know whether a recycled %, compostability claim or offset is substantiable.
- Apply fixes in your own packaging, ads and pages — GreenPrecheck never publishes or connects to retailer portals.
- Treat output as decision-support, not a green-claims certification or legal advice.
4. What we deliberately do not do
- Life-cycle assessment, lab testing, facility-access lookup, offset-registry or certification verification — those facts live outside the pasted text.
- Continuous monitoring of live product pages or automated publishing.
- Compliance probabilities or enforcement-prediction numbers — outside the regulator nobody can compute what it will decide.
- Legal review — Part 260 checks read claim wording patterns, not your full obligations. Non-US regimes (e.g. EU Green Claims Directive / EmpCo themes) appear as labeled advisories only; regulated campaigns need a qualified professional.
Heuristic pre-check — not a green-claims certification or legal advice. No LCA, lab test, certification lookup or enforcement prediction performed.