We’ve all been there: you see a product with soft green packaging and words like “eco,” “natural,” or “clean” printed on the front… and your hopeful heart thinks, “Yes! A sustainable option!” But not all that glitters is green.

In a world where marketing buzzwords can easily cloud reality, learning to spot greenwashing is a powerful way to become a more conscious, confident consumer. These 7 red flags are things I personally look out for when shopping—and they’ve saved me from wasting money on products that weren’t as planet-friendly as they claimed.