Natural, Organic Beauty. Hideous Brand Management.
A little more enthusiasm from the produce section please.

Accompanying their article on young organic cosmetics consumers, the NY Times has followed up with a more detailed analysis of the industry. According to the Organic Trade Association sales of organic personal care items reached $350 million last year, an increase of $68 million over 2005.

The article notes that increasing confusion over the “truthiness” of the natural personal care market stems in part from the lack of national standards. According to the US Food and Drug Administration there is no national standard for what “organic” or “natural” means.

The result is a general free for all in the market which will undoubtedly lead to claims of greenwashing and damage consumer confidence in the organic brand. This is exactly the opposite of what the planet and consumers need. If the phenomenal industry growth in green products is going to continue groups like the Organic Trade Association need to stop resting on their laurels and produce clear industry standards that pave the way toward government baseline regulations.

The shocker in this article is a spokesperson from the USDA Organic ecolabel actually telling readers of the NY Times that they shouldn’t interpret that label as proof of health benefits or efficacy.

She calls the USDA logo a “marketing program”; basically assuring consumers that her logo is marketing fluff, not to be taken seriously. You can almost hear the balloon deflate.

No Comments » | Tags: consumerism, organic, standards, usda
Posted by Jacob on Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 | Permalink |

More Than Just a Pretty Face
Phthalates? C'mon L'Oreal throw us a bone here...

Fresh-Faced Eco-Consumers - New York Times

16 year old Erin Schrode hits the nail on the head when she says “Organic sells, natural sells, but what do those terms even mean?” in today’s New York Times. That’s why we started this site.

For Ms. Schrode we recommend looking out for the Leaping Bunny (yes there is seriously a leaping bunny label) that prevents cruelty to animals in combination with the biodegradable products institute label and perhaps a USDA organic to round out her cosmetics purchasing strategy. Wow. I’m starting to feel like I’m on “Green eye for the polluting Guy” or something.

Of course the cosmetics industry could just develop a meta-label that requires obtaining all three of the above and then market that so their consumers don’t have to figure out what phthalates are and then harass them about it, but maybe they like the attention?

No Comments » | Tags: consumerism, cosmetics, market gaps
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, November 1st, 2007 | Permalink |

Shares in Ecolabelled Products Just Went Up
New UN Report says Earth is 28% over budget. Oops.

Why? Because according to a UNEP report released today “Efficient use of resources and reducing waste now are among the greatest challenges at the beginning in of 21st century.”

According to the International Herald Tribune the GEO 4 report involved 388 scientists. That report states that our demand on the planet’s resources is now 21.9 hectares per person while it can only provide about 15.7. That means we are about 28% over budget with no other planets to borrow from. We can’t refinance the Earth people. There’s no declaring bankruptcy.

What to do? Simple. Think about the planet’s purse strings and look for the ecolabelled products found in your neighbourhood and in this database that will help meet this challenge. Let’s all put a premium on planetary efficiency.

No Comments » | Tags: consumerism
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 | Permalink |

Vote with your wallet
Polls now open in the produce department.

Save the Planet: Vote Smart - New York Times

As Krugman notes, voting for leaders that prioritise the environment is important. This 2006 Guardian article on organic food states that “sales of organic produce in the UK have jumped 30% in a year and are now worth £1.6bn annually.” Clearly, the ballot box isn’t the only way you can vote for the environment.

No Comments » | Tags: consumerism, organic
Posted by Jacob on Saturday, October 20th, 2007 | Permalink |

Generation Q - New York Times
Actions speak louder than words.

Generation Q - New York Times

Tom Friedman writes about the Quiet generation in the above editorial. My first thought on reading was that we’ve replaced outrage with action. Where outrage is satisfying initially it often doesn’t have a lasting impact. Making better consumer choices absolutely does. While Tom’s generation protested with their voices, our generation simply makes choices that reflect our priorities. Ecolabels can play a critical role in enabling those choices.

No Comments » | Tags: consumerism, generation
Posted by Jacob on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 | Permalink |