“Brown’s the new green”? According to some of America’s largest companies, yes.

As a marketer, I’m always curious about what motivates my fellow marketers’ decisions. They know, like I do, that brown’s firmly linked to eco-friendliness in the consumer’s mind. And they know this doesn’t always involve critical thought. This morning, I bought a box of brown envelopes, assuming they were the eco-friendliest choice. I didn’t even read the label.

Brown sells, so my peers want their products to look brown. Just last week, Cascade introduced a fibre-heavy beige toilet paper, dubbed ‘Moka,’ while Target, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Cinnabon have joined the ranks of companies swapping out their white napkins for brown ones. But does brown always equal green?

According to Cascade, dropping the extra bleaching step reduces Moka’s footprint by 25% compared to their white recycled paper, largely due to energy savings. However, it’s unclear whether Target, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Cinnabon’s new napkins are any more eco-friendly than the old ones—they’re just browner. Scott Murphy, VP of Strategic Manufacturing and Supply for Dunkin’ Donuts, explained that the company changed their napkins because of what the color “symbolizes.”

Folks, we’ve entered the age of “brown-washing.”

Even companies dedicated to helping the planet feel the pressure. Seventh Generation, an eco-branded company, dyes its translucent diapers brown—adding pigmentation to its production process because, it claims, customers wouldn’t associate its diapers (made from recycled materials) with eco-friendliness if they were white or clear.

Unfortunately, it can be tough to distinguish the genuinely brown from the merely brown-washed. It’s not like a napkin from a fast-food joint will have a label on it—if it’s made from recycled materials, it will likely be marked as such, but that won’t tell you what else is in it.

The best thing you can do is look for brands that list any dyes and chemicals used and compare with their competitors. Over time, you’ll figure out which brands can be relied upon. Seventh Generation, despite its bizarre diaper-dying process, lists everything that goes into their products on their website. We try to do the same on Ethical Ocean. Hopefully, the popularity of brown will encourage other companies to be as candid.