Here Today, Still Here Tomorrow

Sex is usually the strongest ploy in marketing, but right now the environment is giving it a run for its money. Surveys show that consumers will even pay a little extra for a product if they can be persuaded that it will ease the garbage glut. But as manufacturers rush to hype the healthy-planet virtues of their products, some seem to be badly overdoing it. Mobil officials said last week that the company will no longer tout its Hefty trash bags as "degradable" because of "mounting confusion" over just what the label means. Mobil was taking a hint. The attorneys general of California, New York, Texas and five other states have launched a joint investigation to determine whether claims like Mobil's constitute deceptive advertising.

Like most so-called degradable plastics, the Hefty bags contain a chemical additive to help the bags break down after exposure to sun and the elements. Yet most plastic ends up in landfills, where there is no light and little oxygen -- in short, no decomposition. As a result, the degradable label is often meaningless. Says Julie Brenegar, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace: "The plastics industry has been cynically cashing in on the good intentions of consumers who want to do the right thing for the environment."

The Federal Trade Commission has started looking into other manufacturers' degradability claims as well. Barry Cutler, director of the agency's Bureau of Consumer Protection, says "several major companies" besides Mobil "have advised us they will stop making environmental claims." Dow Chemical has reportedly removed such labels from its Handi-Wrap plastic wrap.

Ironically, the degradable plastics have hurt many of the pioneering efforts aimed at recycling plastics. The additives that help make the plastics break down can weaken any products made from recycled material. Some architects who used construction panels made of recycled plastic at their building sites discovered that the products fell apart after a few months because they contained some biodegradable residues.

However well-intentioned shoppers may be, so-called biodegradable products "foster precisely the wrong attitude," says Jim Middaugh, a spokesman for the Environmental Defense Fund. "They foster the idea that throwing stuff away is a good idea." Not all manufacturers have gone the degradable route. Procter & Gamble plans to expand the use of recycled plastic in making containers for Liquid Tide and Cheer. Smart companies know which way the wind is blowing.