Aug 18, 2026 · 21 min · 9 segments
Not everything labeled “natural,” “non-toxic,” “recycled,” or “plant-based” is actually a healthier choice for your home. In this episode, I break down how greenwashing shows up in construction and…
But first, what, what is the term? So if you've never heard of greenwashing, it's...
Think of it as if you were to see a label in an aisle that had a nice little green leaf in it, but then the backside, once you turned it over, was in fact, like, had some chemicals that were just plant derivatives.
That is greenwashing, where you as the consumer are, eh, perceived a product to be natural and organic and non-harmful, but in fact, it just had creative labeling and alternative names for toxic products.
So greenwashing is really more on the marketing side, like if something is marketed to you as a consumer to be healthy and natural when it's not actually all that better than the toxic counterparts.
So how does this show up in the building and construction industry? It has to do with the building materials.
And my hot take, and maybe not a popular one [laughs] is that you can't save the planet if you're sick.
So when I see things about recycled, renewable, energy efficient, like, all of the things to help in the name of global warming and help our planet, I'm all for that.
But if the trade-off is that you are becoming sick because of it, that's a hard one for me to get behind.
So what, what would be an example of this? Because I stand pretty firmly on I'll, I'll save the planet when you're healthy.
I'll save the planet, like, when we stop having mold within 50% of our homes.
But first, what, what is the term? So if you've never heard of greenwashing, it's...
Think of it as if you were to see a label in an aisle that had a nice little green leaf in it, but then the backside, once you turned it over, was in fact, like, had some chemicals that were just plant derivatives.
That is greenwashing, where you as the consumer are, eh, perceived a product to be natural and organic and non-harmful, but in fact, it just had creative labeling and alternative names for toxic products.
So greenwashing is really more on the marketing side, like if something is marketed to you as a consumer to be healthy and natural when it's not actually all that better than the toxic counterparts.
So how does this show up in the building and construction industry? It has to do with the building materials.
And my hot take, and maybe not a popular one [laughs] is that you can't save the planet if you're sick.
So when I see things about recycled, renewable, energy efficient, like, all of the things to help in the name of global warming and help our planet, I'm all for that.
But if the trade-off is that you are becoming sick because of it, that's a hard one for me to get behind.
So what, what would be an example of this? Because I stand pretty firmly on I'll, I'll save the planet when you're healthy.
I'll save the planet, like, when we stop having mold within 50% of our homes.
Every episode on Radar is fully transcribed, speaker-labeled, and rich with metadata. Here is a taste of this one. Try Radar for free to see the rest.
7 of 25
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
All 9 segments — the transcript broken into labeled sections, every ad read marked
All 25 topics — jump to every other episode discussing the same subject
Every related episode — other shows Radar links to this one
No account is needed to search Radar.
