Almost everyone wants to be green. You can’t open a magazine, scan a website or read a newspaper without hearing about a company’s transformation into eco friendliness. Then there are dozens of environmentally themed television shows not to mention networks. Helping Mother Earth is a great thing and becoming the proponent of all things green may help your bottom line as well. Could there possibly be a downside? The answer is yes.

The first thing many people gripe about when going green is the expense. That is until most figure out that the conversion will save money in the long run and is a smart move on many levels. The second item in the downside category is the overuse of PR regarding your company’s miraculous epiphany regarding the environment – especially if it’s not true.

As distasteful as it may seem, there are companies out there that choose to promote themselves as green even though it may not be entirely true. There are no hard and fast rules about one’s level of “greenness” but common sense should prevail. For example, if your company uses twelve different toxic chemicals in its manufacturing process but uses recycled toilet paper, chances are that you’re not going to be considered to be green.
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