You've seen the labels. Eco-friendly. Natural. Green. Carbon neutral. Sustainable. They appear on everything from shampoo bottles to furniture to food packaging. And most of them mean nothing.
The European Commission's own 2020 study of environmental claims found that 53% were vague, misleading, or unfounded, and that nearly half offered no accessible evidence at all. The words were marketing, not meaning.
That changes in September 2026.
## What the Directive Does
The law in question is the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive — Directive (EU) 2024/825, sometimes shortened to the ECGT or "EmpCo" directive. It is a consumer-protection measure adopted in February 2024, and its rules apply across the EU from 27 September 2026. It amends two existing directives — the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive — to regulate environmental claims on products sold in the EU.
One point of confusion is worth clearing up. This is not the same as the standalone "Green Claims Directive" (proposal COM(2023)166), which was a separate, more detailed instrument. That proposal was slated for withdrawal in 2025 and never became law. The rules that actually take effect in September 2026 are the ones in Directive (EU) 2024/825 described here.
In plain language: if a product makes an environmental claim, that claim has to be substantiated and specific — and where it takes the form of a sustainability label, it must be backed by a recognised certification scheme rather than a badge the seller invented.
### What Gets Banned
**Generic claims without substantiation.** You cannot label a product eco-friendly, green, natural, or sustainable without specific, verifiable evidence for what those words mean in context. A product isn't eco-friendly because it contains one recycled ingredient — the claim has to reflect the product's actual environmental performance.
**Carbon-neutral claims based on offsets.** A product cannot call itself carbon neutral or climate neutral if the claim rests solely on purchasing carbon offsets. Any such reduction has to be real and measurable, not bought from a third-party project.
**Misleading sustainability labels.** Self-created labels that look like certifications but aren't backed by a recognised scheme are prohibited. If a company invents its own 5-leaf or 3-drop system with no independent verification behind it, it can no longer display it.
**Claims about future performance.** A product cannot claim it will be carbon-neutral by 2030 unless there is a clear, publicly available, independently monitored plan behind it. Aspirational claims without substance are out.
### What's Allowed
**Specific, verified claims.** A product can say it contains 80% post-consumer recycled content — if that's true and verifiable. It can say it's certified home-compostable by TUV Austria — if it holds that certification. The claim stands or falls on the evidence behind it.
**Recognised certifications.** Claims backed by established, independent certification schemes — EU Organic, COSMOS, FSC, GOTS, OK Compost HOME, Demeter — are compliant, because the certification itself provides the substantiation.
**Comparative claims.** A product can claim it uses 40% less water than a competitor — if the comparison is accurate, the methodology is disclosed, and the data is verifiable.
## What This Means for Shoppers
The directive doesn't change what you buy. It changes what you can trust.
Before September 2026, a product could slap eco on the label and face little consequence. After September 2026, that label has to be backed by evidence — or removed.
For conscious shoppers, this is the regulatory equivalent of what many of us have been doing manually for years: separating genuine claims from greenwashing. The directive makes greenwashing legally risky, which means the marketplace should gradually clean itself up.
## How to Shop Under the New Rules
The directive doesn't hand you a cheat sheet. It hands you a framework. Here's how to use it:
### 1. Look for Recognised Certifications, Not Self-Made Labels
Trust certifications that are independently audited, internationally recognised, and transparent about their criteria:
- **TUV Austria OK Compost HOME** — verifies that a product is home-compostable (breaks down in garden conditions, not just industrial facilities) - **EU Organic** — verifies organic production standards across the EU - **COSMOS** — standard for organic and natural cosmetics - **FSC** — verifies responsible forestry and paper sourcing - **GOTS** — global standard for organic textiles - **Demeter** — certifies biodynamic agriculture - **EcoCert** — independent certifier for organic and ecological products
If a product displays one of these, the claim behind it has been independently verified. If it displays a self-made label with no certifying body, be sceptical.
### 2. Ask for Specificity
Sustainable is a vague word. Made from 92% post-consumer recycled aluminium, manufactured in a facility powered by renewable energy is specific.
Specific claims are verifiable. Vague claims are not. Under the directive, vague, unsubstantiated claims are unlawful.
### 3. Check the Source
Who made the claim? The company itself? A third-party auditor? An industry body? Independent verification matters more than the claim itself.
A product claiming to be plastic-free is more trustworthy when verified by an independent body than when the company simply asserts it on its website.
### 4. Watch for Offset-Based Claims
Carbon neutral is the most common offset-based claim. It usually means the company calculated its emissions and bought credits to offset them — often through tree-planting or renewable-energy projects that may or may not deliver the promised reduction.
The directive bans offset-based carbon-neutral claims on products. If a product still says carbon neutral after September 2026, the claim has to rest on direct emission reductions, not offsets.
### 5. Look for What's Not Claimed
Sometimes the absence of a claim is more honest than its presence. A product that doesn't call itself eco-friendly but gives you clear, specific information about its materials, certifications, and supply chain is often more trustworthy than one that leads with a big green label.
## How Grown. Approaches the Directive
Grown. is two things: a curated index of independent European shops, and a small range of our own regenerative home kits. The directive shapes how we handle both.
For the partner index, we don't invent labels or badges of our own. We do documented desk research on every shop we list — who they are, what they make, and what they can actually substantiate — and we publish that evidence on each shop's page so you can read it yourself. Where a shop holds a recognised certification, we point to it: Bingenheimer Saatgut's Demeter biodynamic seeds, Uni Sapon's EcoCert cleaning concentrates, Fairment's certified-organic cultures. Where a shop makes a claim we can't verify, we say so rather than dress it up.
For our own kits — bokashi, mushroom, fermentation, microgreens and the rest — we're honest about where we are: they're in early access, open by waitlist while we finish the work of sourcing and, where relevant, certifying them. We would rather tell you "not yet" than print a green label we can't stand behind.
We don't use generic environmental claims. We don't use offset-based carbon neutrality. We don't self-certify. The directive doesn't change that approach — it's the standard we started with.
## The Practical Takeaway
The directive is good news for shoppers. It means the labels on products will gradually become more meaningful. It means greenwashing carries legal risk. It means companies that invested in genuine certifications and supply-chain transparency will stand out.
Your role as a shopper doesn't change much. Look for recognised certifications. Favour specific claims over vague ones. Be sceptical of self-made labels. And trust the products — and the shops — that tell you what they are, honestly and specifically, without hiding behind the word green.
The era of eco as a cost-free marketing claim is ending. That's worth celebrating.