Two Sides says more than 1,500 companies worldwide have withdrawn or revised environmental messaging that portrayed paper and paper-based packaging as environmentally harmful without adequate supporting evidence.
The milestone was announced by Two Sides North America (TSNA), which has conducted its anti-greenwashing campaign for more than a decade. The organization contacts companies using claims such as “Go Green, Go Paperless” and asks them to substantiate or reconsider the environmental comparisons behind the messaging.
In North America, TSNA has contacted 422 companies since launching the campaign. According to the organization, 228 — or approximately 54% — subsequently removed or modified their anti-paper statements. During 2025 alone, 25 of the 62 companies contacted changed their messaging.
Banks, utilities, insurance providers and telecommunications companies are among the businesses most frequently using environmental arguments to encourage customers to switch from printed to digital communications. TSNA maintains that such claims can overlook the energy consumption, infrastructure requirements and electronic waste associated with digital services.
The organization also argues that broad comparisons between paper and digital communications should account for paper’s renewable fibre base, established recycling systems and the role of sustainably managed forests in the paper supply chain. Its campaign does not oppose digital communications but calls for environmental claims involving either medium to be supported by credible data and appropriate life-cycle evidence.
“Businesses deserve credit for real progress, and consumers deserve information they can trust,” said Jules Van Sant, executive director of Two Sides North America.
Environmental marketing claims are receiving greater regulatory scrutiny in both the United States and Canada. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides explain how marketers can substantiate and qualify environmental claims to avoid misleading consumers. The guides are administrative guidance rather than standalone regulations.
In Canada, provisions that took effect in June 2024 explicitly address greenwashing. They require environmental claims about products to be supported by adequate and proper testing, while claims about a business or business activity must be adequately substantiated in accordance with an internationally recognized methodology.
Two Sides also cited its own consumer research, which suggests that environmental messaging can influence communication preferences. A 2022 survey found that 65% of U.S. respondents exposed to greenwashing claims said the messaging encouraged them to move from paper to digital communications. Its 2025 Trend Tracker survey found that 78% of U.S. consumers and 83% of Canadian consumers believed they should be able to choose between printed and electronic bills.
Two Sides North America is a member-supported nonprofit organization representing the print, paper and paper-based packaging sectors. It provides information intended to address environmental misconceptions about paper products and promotes evidence-based sustainability claims.
