False "Green" Labeling may lead to lawsuits

According to a recent Wall Street Journal Article. (here) manufacturers are facing a "rising tide of legal and regulatory actions aimed at products pitched as "environmentally friendly".

Some of the actions arise from such activity as labels that imply their products have won some third-party seal of approval or touting products as "biodegradable" when there is little chance they would actually decompose in a landfill.

A large factor motivating companies to make such claims is that about 17% of U.S. consumers said in a recent survey that they were willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products, up from 10% last fall and 13% a year earlier, according to The Boston Consulting Group. The increase is likely a result of the improved economic outlook, the consulting firm says.