How frustrating (and pointless) it is to read case studies which only have partial information, even though that’s mainly what case studies and articles should be about. ‘The innovative product with low toxicity’ (what about carbon?), ‘the building with zero carbon’ (what about embodied carbon and how do they define zero carbon?), ‘the 100% recycled material’ (downcycled, post consumer or post industrial?).

Yes, unfortunately that’s what many marketers, communicators and journalists love these days. The news, the gimmick, a story. But quick wins in one area often have the wrong impact in other areas.

I am not in favour of rules but I think it should be standard in case studies, advertisements and articles to add a link to the full story: the whole life cycle impact of a product. In a way this has happened with car ads, where they have to disclose the CO2/km. One easy way of promoting full product transparency is to include a link to the environmental product declaration (EPD).

I am not suggesting that every ad, article or case study should have a link to the EPD of the product, however those ones that are talking about how green the products are should have to justify their claims. This approach may get rid of some of the Greenwash we have thrown at us these days too!