As more individuals and organisations attempt to minimise their carbon footprint, focus is widening to the environmental impact of the services and products they are choosing to utilise. Previously the environmental credibility of a product or service was unknown to the consumer. However, through schemes such as ecolabelling, consumers are given the ability to identify those products or services which have a higher environmental credibility than competitors.
The Global Ecolabelling Network describes an ecolabel as; “a label which identifies overall environmental preference of a product or service within a specific product/service category based on life cycle considerations.” To ensure legitimacy of the ecolabel a third party determines the specific environmental criteria and awards certification by display of a standardised logo.
Displaying an ecolabel allows producers to demonstrate the environmental considerations that have been incorporated into a product or service. A number of general ecolabels exist and their uptake is primarily voluntary. The European Ecolabel is one such scheme and is demonstrated by a flower logo. Products and services are grouped e.g. appliances, paper products, tourist accommodation, and each group dictates its own criteria to achieve certification [1].
The ecolabel also aids the decision making process of the environmentally conscious consumer towards a product or service meeting their own environmental criteria. One example of a well established ecolabel is the Forestry Stewardship Scheme (FSC) UK (“tick tree logo”). Those producing and/or utilising timber products for retail once certified to FSC social and environmental standards, can display the logo on their products. For those purchasing timber products, the FSC label allows you to be assured of the environmental credibility of that product [2].
The benefits of displaying an ecolabel on a product or service are threefold to producer, consumer and the environment. Consumers choosing to purchase products or services displaying an ecolabel will only further drive environmental responsibility amongst producers. Those producers choosing to display their environmental responsibility may see benefits in growing market advantage compared to those producers who do not [3]. However the world of ecolabelling can appear confusing with ecolabelling.org [4], identifying worldwide, 325 current logos and schemes.
All the products in our store have been accredited to the highest environmental standards and come with various ‘ecolabels’.
[1] EUROPA: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/ (2010)
[2] http://www.fsc-uk.org/ (2010)
[3] Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) : http://www.globalecolabelling.net/ (2010)
[4] http://ecolabelling.org/ (2010)
International Institute for Sustainable Development: http://www.iisd.org/standards/ecolabelling.asp (2007)
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA): http://ecolabel.defra.gov.uk/ (2010)
The European Eco-label Catalogue: http://www.eco-label.com/default.htm (2010)
