PTC Trust and Lynn Kirkland from Herb Farm partnered to bring another ECO-FRIENDLY workshop to our TPU units in the Bay of Plenty. Young teen parents came from Tarawera, Tokoroa, Rotorua and Whakatane for this workshop during which Lynn explained greenwashing and identified its detrimental effects on baby health.

Newstalk ZB from Sun, 17 Mar 2024, interviewed head of advocacy and research Gemma Rasmussen from Consumer NZ as ‘almost half of New Zealanders are finding it tricky to tell how true a product's green claims are’. 44% of participants deemed they would switch to something more eco-friendly and sustainable. She described that part of the problem in NZ is the lack of industry checks on sustainable claims or greenwashing. She encourages all New Zealanders to send any examples to them on the Consumer NZ website so her organisation can check things out.

Items identified by Consumer NZ include:

Food and drinks,

Textiles and footwear are heavily targeted as greenwashing.

-laundry detergent (eco-friendly) amongst others

Our young parents returned home with increased awareness and more knowledge about the steps they can take to ensure they are purchasing authentic, sustainable products.