Archive for February, 2008
Heads up: Good Wood Watch launches
If a tree falls on the internet...
Greenpeace, Sierra Club of Canada – BC Chapter, West Coast Environmental Law and Wildsight launched Good Wood Watch this month — with their eyes on VANOC and the 2010 Olympics.
“The website, GoodWoodWatch.ca, was launched… to ensure environmentally and socially responsible Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood is included in venue construction.”
No Comments » | Tags: fsc
Posted by Trevor on Monday, February 25th, 2008 | Permalink |
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Carbon Offset Verification Starts
Climatebiz just announced that Green-e is expanding into certification for carbon offsets next week.
Aw nuts. I was just about to launch a green offset programme and use it to buy myself a Prius.
No Comments » | Tags: carbon
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 | Permalink |
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Wishful Thinking Hurts the Planet
Progess? But I like going to fancy meetings!
 In a classic example of a multi-stakholder process harming the environment, it looks like plans to develop additional product lines for the EU ecolabel are being stymied by the inability of those setting the standards to agree on what they should be.
Consumer advocate Jim Murray hit the nail on the head - “a more realistic understanding of consumers as they actually are, and not as we would wish they were.”
Queue applause. Why is that so hard?
No Comments » | Tags: europe, standards
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 | Permalink |
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Eco-Flowers Don’t Need to Cost More
Hooray for cancer free flowers!
 Did you know 80% of flowers used in the USA come from Ecuador and Colombia? Some interesting coverage of the emerging eco-flower market.
Michael Keyes of Veriflora sums up the benefits of ecolabels as follows: “producers get credit in the marketplace, and consumers can feel good about what they’re giving.”
The journalist for this piece called flower stores and found those that didn’t carry organic flowers said that they were too expensive. The journalist then went online and found they were actually about the same price. Makes me think retailers are worried about eco-products squeezing their margins.
No Comments » | Tags: organic
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 | Permalink |
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Energy Star Builds Momentum
200 billion reasons to sign up.
 Check it out. The number of US buildings carrying Energy Star labels jumped over 25% in 2007.
In California alone owners of Energy Star labeled buildings saved almost 200 billion dollars on their energy bills in 2007. Wow. How’s that for a business case?
No Comments » | Tags:
Posted by Jacob on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 | Permalink |
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Ahead of the Curve
ecolabels as pole position
 Here’s an interesting example of ecolabels being used as a source for industry regulation.
The European Flame Retardants Association sees compliance with ecolabels as a way to pre-qualify for possible future regulation. In fact, the association set up a working group last year to look at how ecolabels approach their industry.
The EFRA researcher also suggested that ecolabel criteria are going to become more mainstream as they are driven by green public procurement.
No Comments » | Tags: standards
Posted by Jacob on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 | Permalink |
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Green Vacations
Here’s an article on green vacation tactics, in particular the ecolabels to look out for when planning your next escape. They recommend looking out for Green Key or Blue Flag.
Our complete list of tourism labels is here.
No Comments » | Tags: tourism
Posted by Jacob on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 | Permalink |
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Eco-restaurant label
Waiter? There's a clear conscience in my soup!
Here’s a great NY Times article on an eco-restaurant label for the USA.
What about a google maps version of this page?
No Comments » | Tags: organic
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 | Permalink |
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US Grocer Launches Franken-Label
horrid creation or beautiful thing?
 California food producer Raley’s is launching an ecolabel for its products. The dirt?
Their “Full Circle” label includes 78 items that are certified USDA organic. Another 44 products are natural Full Circle items for which the government has no standard.
According to this article Raley’s said the items come as close to a natural state as possible, and are made without artificial ingredients, have limited refined ingredients and are responsibly produced and managed.
Does mixing “natural” and “organic” just muddy the waters, or is natural a worthwhile mid-point between premium priced organics and products without environmental claims?
No Comments » | Tags: food
Posted by Jacob on Monday, February 11th, 2008 | Permalink |
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