A new investigation into the boom in green trade marks by law firm Griffith Hack has revealed that terms such as green, eco and enviro have become so commonplace that they risk losing their impact.

The firms comments come as new statistics show consumers have become more environmentally aware and that more than 4 million adult Australians are seen as eco-aware consumers, expected to spend $22 billion on green products and services in 2010.

Businesses wanting a piece of the action are rushing to file trade marks highlight this trend, using ‘green’, ‘eco’ and ‘enviro’ in their names. A Griffith Hack review shows ‘green’ has been the most popular of these since 2003. About 3800 green trade marks have been filed in Australia in this time, peaking in 2008.

The firm’s new report ‘Turning Green into Gold’ has warned of the risk of “greenwashing”, a term used when a company is unable to back up its environmental claims.

“It’s not easy being green,” said co-author Natasha Williams. “Especially when terms such as green, eco, nature, organic, carbon, clean, environmentally friendly or enviro are now commonplace.”

“If consumers can’t clearly differentiate [a] green trade mark from all other green trade marks in the marketplace, [the] product may lose its competitive edge.”