Interest in greener composites is increasing nowadays, due to serious environmental pollution, called "white pollution", especially microplastics. Labeling many novel introduced to market materials described as "eco-friendly" and "bio-" may mislead users and consumers. Society has often assigned the "bio" prefix (e.g., biomaterials, bioplastic, biocomposite) to fully biodegradable or natural-originated materials. However, many "biomaterials" are obtained from fossil fuels and are non-biodegradable as polyolefin-based composites with natural fibers or fillers (e.g., wood fibers, cellulose or minerals), hybrid blends with non-and biodegradable polymers (polyolefins with thermoplastic starch). Additionally, many producers labeled products as suitable for recycling or containing some part of recyclate as "eco-friendly, " which can be fully obtained from fossil sources. Moreover, many companies misuse "green adjectives," leading to the greenwashing phenomenon. In 2023, UE took action to address the phenomenon and formed the resistant bacteria . These disadvantages make the researchers search for new solutions for inorganic clay functionalization. Bio-based compounds such as amino acids and essential oils (EO) ) can be used for the modification of inorganic materials applied as polymeric composites' fillers. EO or their components -terpenes, can intercalate MMT and be adsorbed on the clay external layer , leading to their hydrophobization.