{"id":373402,"date":"2026-09-28T00:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T00:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/lodestone-green-claims\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T23:36:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T23:36:50","slug":"lodestone-green-claims","status":"publish","type":"plugin","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/lodestone-green-claims\/","author":23555647,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"version":"1.0.1","stable_tag":"1.0.1","tested":"7.1.2","requires":"6.4","requires_php":"7.4","requires_plugins":null,"header_name":"Lodestone Green Claims \u2013 Greenwashing Checker","header_author":"Lodestone","header_description":"Screens your posts, pages and WooCommerce products for the environmental wording the EU prohibits from 27 September 2026, and stores the substantiation that makes a claim lawful. Finds risk; never claims compliance.","assets_banners_color":"474f6d","last_updated":"2026-09-27 23:36:50","external_support_url":"","external_repository_url":"","donate_link":"","header_plugin_uri":"https:\/\/madebylodestone.com\/green-claims","header_author_uri":"https:\/\/madebylodestone.com","rating":0,"author_block_rating":0,"active_installs":0,"downloads":57,"num_ratings":0,"support_threads":0,"support_threads_resolved":0,"author_block_count":0,"sections":["description","faq","changelog"],"tags":{"1.0.1":{"tag":"1.0.1","author":"loureiro70","date":"2026-09-27 23:36:50","revision":3716144}},"upgrade_notice":[],"ratings":[],"assets_icons":{"icon-128x128.png":{"filename":"icon-128x128.png","revision":3716144,"resolution":"128x128","location":"assets","locale":"","width":128,"height":128},"icon-256x256.png":{"filename":"icon-256x256.png","revision":3716144,"resolution":"256x256","location":"assets","locale":"","width":256,"height":256},"icon.svg":{"filename":"icon.svg","revision":3716144,"resolution":false,"location":"assets","locale":false}},"assets_banners":{"banner-1544x500.png":{"filename":"banner-1544x500.png","revision":3716144,"resolution":"1544x500","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1544,"height":500},"banner-772x250.png":{"filename":"banner-772x250.png","revision":3716144,"resolution":"772x250","location":"assets","locale":"","width":772,"height":250}},"assets_blueprints":{},"all_blocks":[],"tagged_versions":["1.0.1"],"block_files":[],"assets_screenshots":{"screenshot-1.png":{"filename":"screenshot-1.png","revision":3716144,"resolution":"1","location":"assets","locale":"","width":2800,"height":2200},"screenshot-2.png":{"filename":"screenshot-2.png","revision":3716144,"resolution":"2","location":"assets","locale":"","width":2800,"height":2200},"screenshot-3.png":{"filename":"screenshot-3.png","revision":3716144,"resolution":"3","location":"assets","locale":"","width":2800,"height":2400},"screenshot-4.png":{"filename":"screenshot-4.png","revision":3716144,"resolution":"4","location":"assets","locale":"","width":2800,"height":2600}},"screenshots":{"1":"The overview: findings grouped by the prohibition they engage, with days remaining until the rules apply.","2":"A finding, with the wording in context, the instrument, the specification signal, and what would answer it.","3":"Substantiation records \u2014 created once, applied wherever the wording appears.","4":"The dated dossier (Pro): what a page said, when, and what was in force at the time."}},"plugin_section":[],"plugin_tags":[283024,276657,277397,155990,286],"plugin_category":[45],"plugin_contributors":[279793],"plugin_business_model":[],"class_list":["post-373402","plugin","type-plugin","status-publish","hentry","plugin_tags-environmental-claims","plugin_tags-green-claims","plugin_tags-greenwashing","plugin_tags-sustainability","plugin_tags-woocommerce","plugin_category-ecommerce","plugin_contributors-loureiro70","plugin_committers-loureiro70"],"banners":{"banner":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/lodestone-green-claims\/assets\/banner-772x250.png?rev=3716144","banner_2x":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/lodestone-green-claims\/assets\/banner-1544x500.png?rev=3716144","banner_rtl":false,"banner_2x_rtl":false},"icons":{"svg":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/lodestone-green-claims\/assets\/icon.svg?rev=3716144","icon":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/lodestone-green-claims\/assets\/icon.svg?rev=3716144","icon_2x":false,"generated":false},"screenshots":[{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/lodestone-green-claims\/assets\/screenshot-1.png?rev=3716144","caption":"The overview: findings grouped by the prohibition they engage, with days remaining until the rules apply."},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/lodestone-green-claims\/assets\/screenshot-2.png?rev=3716144","caption":"A finding, with the wording in context, the instrument, the specification signal, and what would answer it."},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/lodestone-green-claims\/assets\/screenshot-3.png?rev=3716144","caption":"Substantiation records \u2014 created once, applied wherever the wording appears."},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/lodestone-green-claims\/assets\/screenshot-4.png?rev=3716144","caption":"The dated dossier (Pro): what a page said, when, and what was in force at the time."}],"raw_content":"\n

Green claims are now a lot more dangerous to write badly.<\/strong> Directive (EU) 2024\/825 \u2014\nthe Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, or EmpCo \u2014 adds new practices to\nAnnex I of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive: the list of things that are prohibited in all\ncircumstances<\/em>, with no need to show that any consumer was actually misled. Member States apply them\nfrom 27 September 2026<\/strong>, and there is no transition period.<\/p>\n\n

This plugin scans your posts, pages and WooCommerce products for the wording those rules cover, tells\nyou which prohibition each one engages, and stores what you can actually demonstrate.<\/p>\n\n

It is not a word list<\/h4>\n\n

That distinction is the whole point. The Directive does not prohibit words. Under Article 2(p), a\nclaim is generic<\/em> \u2014 and therefore caught by point 4a \u2014 only where \"the specification of the claim is\nnot provided in clear and prominent terms on the same medium\". Recital 9 names the \"online selling\ninterface\" as an example of a medium.<\/p>\n\n

So these two are the same word and different legal objects:<\/p>\n\n

    \n
  • \"Eco-friendly.\" \u2014 generic.<\/li>\n
  • \"Eco-friendly: the packaging is 100% post-consumer card.\" \u2014 specified.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n

    This plugin checks for the specification, tells you which signal it found, and leaves the judgement\nof whether it is clear and prominent to you. A plugin that scores those two identically is grepping,\nnot screening.<\/p>\n\n

    What it checks<\/h4>\n\n
      \n
    • Point 4a<\/strong> \u2014 generic environmental claims without recognised excellent environmental performance.<\/li>\n
    • Point 4c<\/strong> \u2014 climate claims that rest on offsetting. Nothing on file answers this one, and the\nplugin says so instead of offering you a certificate that would not help.<\/li>\n
    • Point 2a<\/strong> \u2014 sustainability labels, badges and seals with no certification scheme behind them.<\/li>\n
    • Point 4b<\/strong> \u2014 whole-product claims that apply to only one aspect.<\/li>\n
    • Point 10a<\/strong> \u2014 legal requirements presented as a distinctive feature.<\/li>\n
    • Article 6(2)(d)<\/strong> \u2014 claims about future environmental performance without a verified plan. This\none is assessed case by case rather than blacklisted, and the plugin labels it that way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n

      What the free version does, permanently<\/h4>\n\n
        \n
      • Scan every post, page and WooCommerce product on the site. No page limit, no scan quota, no\nexpiry, nothing switched off later.<\/li>\n
      • All six prohibitions, and all seven claim vocabularies: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian,\nDutch and Portuguese. Every one of them scans in the free version \u2014 detection is never limited by\nlanguage.<\/li>\n
      • The specification test on every finding, naming what it found alongside the claim.<\/li>\n
      • Content is re-checked whenever it is saved, drafts included, so a fix shows up the moment you make it.<\/li>\n
      • Substantiation records<\/strong> \u2014 an EU Ecolabel licence, an EN ISO 14024 Type I scheme, another EU-law\nbasis, the certification scheme behind a label, or the verified implementation plan behind a\nclaim about future performance. Created once and applied wherever the wording appears, because a\nshop with three hundred organic cotton shirts has one certificate, not three hundred.<\/li>\n
      • Brand-name exclusions, so a shop called Green Valley Farms is not flagged on every page it has.<\/li>\n
      • Rule on any finding \u2014 accept it or dismiss it as a false positive \u2014 with a written reason recorded\nagainst your name and the date.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n

        What Pro adds<\/h4>\n\n

        Pro is for businesses that have to prove<\/em> it later: a dated dossier of what each page said and what\nbacked it, printable per page, and every finding with its ruling exportable as CSV; history built\nonly from figures frozen when each scan ran; a warning before a certificate expires, and the\nfindings it was covering reopened the day after its expiry date; background re-scans; a per-language\ncoverage matrix for Polylang and WPML; and WP-CLI.<\/p>\n\n

        The snapshots and the rulings are written by the free<\/strong> version from the day you install it. Buy a\nlicence a year from now and a year of evidence is waiting, not an empty screen.<\/p>\n\n

        Your content never leaves your server<\/h4>\n\n

        Every rule, every word list and every decision runs locally. Your product copy is never transmitted\nanywhere to be checked. There is no account, no API key, and no lexicon downloaded from anywhere.<\/p>\n\n

        The plugin's own code makes no network requests at all. The one component that can is the Freemius\nSDK bundled for licensing, and only when you do something that needs it: opening the upgrade page\n(which fetches current prices from Freemius, and whose checkout is Freemius'), buying or activating a\nlicence, choosing to opt in, or sending the optional feedback form when you deactivate. None of\nthose sends your content.<\/p>\n\n

        One notice. That is the whole budget.<\/h4>\n\n

        This plugin shows exactly one dismissible admin notice, ever, and it retires itself as soon as you\nopen the plugin. No banners, no countdown pressure, no nags on other people's screens, one top-level\nmenu, and nothing installed or suggested that you did not ask for.<\/p>\n\n

        The one thing not in our hands is that opening the upgrade page loads the Freemius checkout and\nadds a Freemius \"Upgrade\" item under the menu while you are on it.<\/p>\n\n\n

        \n

        Does this make my shop compliant?<\/h3><\/dt>\n

        No, and be sceptical of anything that says it does. Three reasons, in order of how much they matter.<\/p>\n\n

        The legal test is a case-by-case assessment against the \"average consumer\", made by national\nauthorities and courts. The European Commission's own guidance stresses that it is not a statistical\ntest. No local text scan performs it.<\/p>\n\n

        The Directive's definition of an environmental claim covers \"pictorial, graphic or symbolic\nrepresentation\" \u2014 images, logos, green leaves, water drops, colours. This plugin reads text. A clean\nresult is therefore structurally incomplete, not merely imperfect, and the plugin says so on every\nscreen that shows findings.<\/p>\n\n

        And a self-issued green badge saying \"compliant\" is itself close to the practice that point 2a\nprohibits. That is why no version of this plugin will ever print one.<\/p><\/dd>\n

        Will it rewrite my product descriptions for me?<\/h3><\/dt>\n

        No, and this is deliberate. Generating the wording of a legal claim on your behalf would mean the\nplugin authoring the representation you<\/em> are liable for. It shows you what a specification looks\nlike, as documentation. It never writes one into your page.<\/p><\/dd>\n

        Will it flag my brand name on every page?<\/h3><\/dt>\n

        No. Your site title is excluded automatically, and you can add brand and product names in Settings.\nThe Commission's guidance is explicit that a green word in a brand or product name does not\nautomatically constitute an environmental claim. It also says that if such a name is<\/em> used in a way\nlikely to create an environmental association, it is a claim like any other \u2014 so exclude a name\nbecause it is genuinely just a name, not to quieten the list.<\/p><\/dd>\n

        Do I need WooCommerce?<\/h3><\/dt>\n

        No. It scans products when WooCommerce is there, and posts and pages either way. The prohibitions\ncover commercial communications generally, so a business with a \"sustainability\" landing page and no\nshop has the same exposure.<\/p><\/dd>\n

        What about false positives?<\/h3><\/dt>\n

        There will be some. Words like \"green\", \"natural\" and \"clean\" have ordinary meanings, so they are\nmarked as commonly-innocent, sorted below the rest, and labelled as likely false positives. Dismiss\nthem \u2014 that is a normal outcome, dismissing is as prominent as accepting, and your written reason is\nkept as part of the record.<\/p><\/dd>\n

        Is the free version a trial?<\/h3><\/dt>\n

        No. There is no page limit, no scan quota, no expiry date, and nothing free today that gets switched\noff later to make you upgrade. If that ever changes, this line is a lie and you should say so in a\nreview.<\/p><\/dd>\n

        Is this legal advice?<\/h3><\/dt>\n

        No. It is a screening tool that references the statute. Read the actual instrument, and take advice\nabout your own products.<\/p><\/dd>\n\n<\/dl>\n\n\n

        1.0.1<\/h4>\n\n
          \n
        • Listed as \"Lodestone Green Claims - Greenwashing Checker\", so it can be found by the term\nmerchants actually search for.<\/li>\n
        • The description no longer says the new rules are \"about to\" apply: they apply from 27 September 2026.<\/li>\n
        • Tags and short description reworded around greenwashing and environmental claims rather than\ngeneric compliance.<\/li>\n
        • Fixed: a full-site scan needed one more click, which checked nothing, before it said it was\ncomplete. It now finishes on the batch that reaches the end.<\/li>\n
        • Fixed: ruling on a finding that no longer exists said a reason was missing; it now says the\nfinding is gone. Every form is now tied to the one finding or record it was made for.<\/li>\n
        • Fixed: an editor or author could not make the one admin notice go away.<\/li>\n
        • Pro: the CSV export no longer writes a cell a spreadsheet would run as a formula.<\/li>\n
        • The listing now says exactly how often background re-scans run, what the CSV holds, and when the\nFreemius SDK contacts Freemius.<\/li>\n
        • Corrected the description of the free tier: it said \"languages are never a paid extra\", fifteen\nlines above a Pro feature that is per-language. Detection in all seven languages is free, which\nis what that line meant; the per-language coverage matrix for Polylang and WPML is Pro.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n

          1.0.0<\/h4>\n\n
            \n
          • Initial release.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","raw_excerpt":"Greenwashing checker for WooCommerce: find the environmental claims in your product copy that EU law prohibits, and record the substantiation.","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin\/373402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/plugin"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373402"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wporg\/v1\/users\/loureiro70"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"plugin_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_section?post=373402"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_tags?post=373402"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_category?post=373402"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_contributors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_contributors?post=373402"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_business_model","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_business_model?post=373402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}