We are continuing our discussion on the FTC cracking down on false green claims that Kmart Corp., Tender Corp., and Dyna-E International made claiming their products were biodegradable.

It really was a matter of time before the FTC starting cracking down. I figured it was around the corner. What is important to know is that the FTC publishes Green Guides to help marketers avoid making false or misleading green claims by explaining how consumers understand commonly used terms, such as “biodegradable” and “recyclable,” and by describing the basic elements needed to substantiate those claims.

Has the FTC had it with greenwashing? You might think so since they recently charged Kmart Corp., Tender Corp., and Dyna-E International with making false and unsubstantiated claims that their paper products were “biodegradable.”

If you read some of my previous blog posts, I indicated that I thought we were getting closer to fining companies for false green claims as they do in Europe.

Kmart and Tender have agreed to settle the cases against them; the case against Dyna-E will be litigated. The testimony states that with the recent growth in “green” advertising and product lines, the agency will continue its efforts to ensure that environmental marketing is truthful, substantiated, and not confusing to consumers.

This basically means, get your facts straight and make sure you are truly green before you put it out there for the world to see.

Here is the story on the above retailers and why they were charged:

I just returned from 4 days in San Francisco. I love the west coast, but with the reduced number of flights, it seems to take a while these days. I spoke at the WBENC Conference for certified women business owners.

The conference was well-attended, in fact, they ended up with so many late registrations that they ran out of food! I guess it is a good problem to have. Although there numbers were down, they still ended up with close to 2000 attendees from all industries and an exhibit floor packed with corporate vendors. This is another conference that had me wondering if we were really in the midst of a recession. There was an event at every corner — Luncheons, breakfasts, dinners and receptions. From Wine Country receptions to senior executive receptions, food, drinks and deserts were aplenty.

When I was checking out, I spoke with the front desk person at the Hilton San Fran who indicated he had a hard time believing it was a recession as their hotel had been sold out for 3 weeks straight — 2000 rooms.

I spoke on creating authentic green value and received some great questions from the audience members on how to create it and how to get around costs when selling higher priced green projects.

In my last blog post, we talked about Shell being put on trial for in New York accused of playing a role in the killing of Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. If you missed our discussion, see my two prior posts below this one.

In the past month, since we’ve rolled out some new green marketing assessment tools, I’ve been asked what makes companies and corporations successful in marketing green products, services or green initiatives.

The reason my company originally developed green marketing assessment tools was to help organizations, corporations and companies determine if their roll outs would be successful in the green arena. I realized quickly that everyone needed more education and then rolled out my Creating Authentic Green Value Webinar series, http://www.marketing-insider.com/secrets_of_green_brands_webinar/

There is so much to learn in this ever changing green and sustainability marketplace. One thing is for sure, though, certain rules still apply.

• Education is paramount to make customers aware of what you mean when you indicate a product, service or brand is green/sustainable. The more education, the better in my opinion.

• Knowing your customer and that not all green consumers and business think and act the same

• Knowing how to effectively position your message, when to say what, what to say in general

• Determining where you can position your company in the over-crowded green marketplace to allow it to rise above the clutter and not be one of the “me too” generations

• Knowing what else you need to work on internally to be successful in launching a green campaign and how your message should follow your greening process

• Knowing what the trends are in the marketplace, which are here to stay

What doesn’t work:

In my last blog post, we talked about Shell being put on trial for in New York accused of playing a role in the killing of Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. If you missed our discussion, please click here.

What I wanted to discuss in this blog post is how you handle any type of bad publicity as it relates to your company, especially if you are positioning your brand and company as sustainable and socially responsible.

Being a sustainable company carries with it a degree of responsibility to treat people fairly, be kind to the environment, and be completely responsible as a company and corporation. Responsibility comes in the form of being transparent so that people know you are not trying to make yourself look perfect, but your brand more human—showing your flaws and all. It is easier and more forgivable for issues to come from you versus the media and it puts in less of reactionary position.