Second in Jana Branch's 'Clean Speak' series. Find the first entry here (http://bit.ly/eZNDFY).

If you’re a regular in the world of sustainability, it’s easy to forget that most businesses and consumers aren’t. Marketers or managers who personally embrace organics, clean tech and electric cars may itch to promote a sustainability claim for their own brand - at their peril.

What if there’s really not much to talk about? Worse, what if your company touts a shallow claim to “green” that invites consumers to examine how un-green the rest of the business is? You may get away with it, help your company make its numbers, and keep your job. Or the issue might blow up in your face.

Before you jump into the wash, consider this:

1. Do you need to be clean? Personal beliefs aside, does your brand or product really need to differentiate itself on the basis of social and/or eco responsibility? Don’t be convinced by juicy statistics that cite hordes of consumers lunging for brands that are clean over those that aren’t. Consumer choice is also pushed by price, convenience, and quality. And depending on how a study defines that consumer -- “green,” “conscious,” “sustainable” -- and whether it surveys intentions or actual behavior, that “horde” in the context of your business may be just a small tribe.

2. Is clean what your customers want? If every consumer wanted clean products and voted with their dollars, our marketplace would look very different today. There are plenty of mainstream consumers who think that global warming is bunk and that social responsibility is not a company’s responsibility. If that’s your customer base, get real about it.

3. Is your reputation worth the risk? Clean Speak is as much about building trust as delivering information. Don’t risk your reputation for a messaging point unless the reward is worth it. And if the reward is really that significant, consider the message a wakeup call to your company that it should be embedding sustainability at a credible level.

4. Bigger isn’t always better. Customers swayed by clean claims aren’t expecting you to save the world. They’re looking for evidence that your company gives a damn, in a way that’s relevant to them. Miss that mark by overhyping, and you will have done more damage than good.

5. Could a clean claim sting? Research suggests that, in some product categories, consumers link ethical superiority with inferior performance. Sustainable = Gentle isn’t so great if you’re selling tires or laundry soap. Review your marketing plan in 360 degrees to make sure “clean” sends the right message.

6. Beginners welcome. Sustainability is a process, and it’s OK to give customers a peek. If your clean claim isn’t real yet, last-century marketing says, “Make the claim. By the time anyone checks it out, you’ll have it nailed.” But Clean Speak says, “Talk about your process, your aims, and a realistic time frame for getting there.” If this kind of transparency worries you, go back to No. 1 and No. 2.

7. If you can’t say something green or clean, say nothing at all. Cleanmuting and greenmuting are the practice of simply saying nothing. While they’re more benign than outright wash, consumers are already beginning to see them as lies of omission (especially in sustainability reporting). While muting is far from ideal, it’s still better to button it up until you can back it up.

Simply put, if sustainability isn’t part of your business practice, it has no place in your marketing tactics.

But in the real world, even well-intentioned companies sometimes weigh the risk/reward of shaky claims and take the route of risk. Then what do you do?

Being directed to deliver a dose of cleanwash or cleanmute is painful for any marketer of conscience, especially because quitting your job is a luxury in this (or any) economy. If you find yourself forced down that murky path, be sure your higher-ups know what they’re really asking for: a bomb wired to your brand’s reputation.

Photo by Mathieu Gasnier/flickr/Creative Commons

Jana Branch is a brand and marketing communications consultant who has advised Fortune 500 companies. Her independent practice, Articulo Consulting, is based in Santa Monica, Calif.