Two Sides Continues to Challenge Greenwashing Claims, Reaches a Global Milestone

Submitted: Two Sides North America August 13, 2026

More than 1,500 companies worldwide have pulled back or amended unsupported anti-paper messaging; over half of North American companies challenged have followed suit.

Portland, Oregon — August 13, 2026 —Two Sides North America (TSNA) is the North American arm of the global non-profit organization advocating for the sustainable attributes of print, paper, and paper-based packaging. This year, the group marked a major milestone: more than 1,500 companies worldwide have now pulled back or amended environmental claims that unfairly cast paper and paper-based packaging as bad for the planet. The effort is part of a public-awareness push the organization has run for over a decade. 

Since the campaign began, TSNA has reached out to 422 companies, and 228 of them—better than half—have since altered or dropped unsubstantiated anti-paper language. In 2025, TSNA engaged 62 companies over greenwashing claims, prompting 25 to change their messaging. 

Banks, utility providers, insurance companies, and telecom firms are among the heaviest users of slogans nudging customers toward electronic billing—phrases like “Go Green, Go Paperless” or similar green-sounding taglines. TSNA’s position is that these lines rarely hold up to scientific scrutiny and, in many cases, serve a company’s bottom line more than the environment. 

Jules Van Sant, Executive Director of Two Sides North America, called the pattern troubling. “It’s discouraging to see how greenwashing continues to undermine an industry dedicated to advancing environmental sustainability and responsible forest management,” she said. 

Van Sant also pointed out that the “digital is greener” argument tends to leave out the environmental price tag of going digital in the first place—things like power consumption, emissions from data infrastructure, and e-waste. 

Industry data compiled by the American Forest & Paper Association backs up that critique: North American paper comes from a renewable source, ranks among the most recycled materials on the continent, and helps fund the upkeep of millions of acres of sustainably managed forestland—details that rarely make it into “paperless” ad copy. 

In the U.S., the FTC’s Green Guides call for environmental claims to be precise, evidence-based, and truthful, warning that catch-all terms like “eco-friendly” or “green” can create a misleading impression of a product’s overall impact. 

Canada updated its Competition Act in 2024, adding stiffer consequences for unverified environmental claims and putting the onus on companies to prove their assertions. That change raises the stakes for any business still leaning on unproven “paperless is better for the planet” language. 

TSNA frames the stakes in economic terms as well, noting that the North American paper and forest-products industry employs over a million workers directly and millions more in the print and mail supply chain. The industry depends on certified sustainable forestry, responsible production practices, and a well-established recycling infrastructure. 

Every unchecked “save a tree” slogan, the group argues, chips away at public trust in a material that is, in fact, renewable—and unfairly penalizes companies that have genuinely invested in sustainability. 

TSNA’s research suggests these marketing messages have real staying power with consumers. A 2022 Two Sides survey found that 65 percent of U.S. respondents who had encountered greenwashing claims said the messaging pushed them toward digital communications instead of paper. Meanwhile, a separate 2025 Trend Tracker survey found that 78 percent of U.S. consumers and 83 percent of Canadian consumers think they should be able to choose how they receive their bills, whether in print or electronically. 

TSNA is careful to note that the campaign isn’t about steering companies away from digital tools or dismissing real sustainability wins. The point, the group says, is honesty: whether a claim concerns digital communications, packaging, or anything else, it should rest on real evidence and data, not catchy slogans.

“Businesses deserve credit for real progress, and consumers deserve information they can trust,” Van Sant said. 

Companies interested in reviewing their own environmental messaging, or wanting to flag a potential case of greenwashing, can get more information at twosidesna.org/anti-greenwash-campaign. 

About Two Sides North America 

Two Sides North America (TSNA) is a member-supported non-profit advocacy organization for the graphic communications, paper, and paper-based packaging industries. Two Sides North America works to dispel common environmental misconceptions and to inspire and inform businesses and consumers with engaging, factual information about the environmental sustainability and value of print, paper, and paper-based packaging. They are the only group that works to dispel and pursue the removal of Greenwashing language used by companies and organizations in North America.  

For more information, please contact: 

Jules VanSant 

Two Sides North America 

jules@twosidesna.org 

www.twosidesna.org 

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