Loblaw’s takes a swipe at ecolabels

An article in yesterday’s Globe and Mail outlined green options available to consumers in the household goods section. The article quickly devolved into a price comparison shopping exercise and general rant about how expensive green products are and how there’s a lack of standards for what’s green.

In the article Loblaw’s, which obviously prefers to retain control over whats green rather than submit itself to independent verification and expertise, took a swipe at ecolabels:

“There are a variety of different certifying bodies and no consistency in terms of what makes one product more environmentally sound than another,” says Claudio Gemmiti, Loblaw Brands vice-president responsible for President’s Choice Green products.

The Globe is right to complain about higher prices for green products. Consumers shouldn’t have to pay extra for making a green choice. Home Depot works hard to keep its eco-options prices in sync with its non-eco-options. If more retailers made the same commitment it would go a long way to driving eco-markets.

While Loblaw’s is right that there are a variety of certification bodies (more than 300 in fact). It’s a little bold to say there is no consistency between them. Even if the labels aren’t fully consistent, I’d rather trust them than some dude at Loblaw’s.

It’s also pretty weak for the journalist to hit up Loblaw’s for a quote on ecolabels. That’s like asking GM their opinion on higher fuel efficiency standards. Well gee kids, GM says there’s no consistency in fuel emissions standards across the US and Canada so I guess we shouldn’t have them.

Instead of pandering to Loblaw’s the Globe should have asked them why they can’t match Home Depot’s commitment to using credible ecolabels while using their retail power to pressure suppliers to bring down prices for eco-friendly products.

The Global Ecolabelling Network, ISEAL, and other ecolabel networks should also be all over articles like this.

2 Comments » | Tags: news, standards
Posted by Jacob on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 | Permalink |

BEST Battery Ecolabel
A little less lead.

According to an Indian newspaper article the IFC has supported development of an ecolabel for batteries called “Better Environmental Sustainability Targets” or BEST. The World Health Organization estimates that 120 million people worldwide are overexposed to lead, with 99 percent of them residing in developing countries. Our research indicates less than 20% of ecolabels are developing country based.

This looks like a great initiative. International donor partnering with an NGO to develop a standard for a product sorely in need of one.

No Comments » | Tags: news, standards
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 | Permalink |

Single Logo Green Packaging Plan
Thoreau on packaging: "simplify, simplify"

Fantastic news on the packaging front in the UK! The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is simplifying their array of logos to three categories:

widely recycled; check locally; and not currently recycled.

Brilliant. Steve Jobs would be jealous. While the logo will be voluntary, we applaud the work of the BRC.

According to their press release “Local inconsistencies cannot be allowed to thwart a standardised label which will help millions of customers…”.

Take that statement, substitute “local” with “global”, and you have the reason we started this site.
The Press Association: Single logo green packaging plan

No Comments » | Tags: news, recycling, standards
Posted by Jacob on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 | Permalink |

A Soap Company Stands up for Standards
Should labels be as unique as soap bubbles? Not if you're selling the soap.

According to an article in talking retail Ecover, a global manufacturer of eco-friendly cleaning products, has called for common standards for ecolabels as they expand across Europe. The company has been enjoying twenty percent annual growth in dish-soap, its most popular product.

Their marketing director, Clare Allman, says the European Eco-Label just confuses the issue further: “The European Eco-Label in the UK allows phosphates but the European standard in France, Germany and Belgium doesn’t. Consumers are looking for our help, and this issue could mean they lose trust in the whole eco-sector.”

It’s an ongoing problem in the labelling industry, how do you provide baseline assurance without stifling innovation? Graded labeling is one option, but it needs to be done carefully and without throwing away baselines. Whatever happens it needs to happen quick, before a label that was meant to help an industry begins to harm it.Given that “Quick” and “European Union” tends to be an oxymoron, I’m starting to wonder of government labels are the best option for a booming industry. On the other hand I don’t exactly trust industry self-regulation and the labels it would produce either. I wonder, for example, what Ecover’s position will be at the dish soap bigwig’s get-together next February?

Public private partnerships like those advocated by ISEAL and other established labels might provide the balance of speed and credibility. The challenge is developing the right model. Perhaps some of the dish soap boys need to take a course or two before they set down to label making.

No Comments » | Tags: europe, news, standards
Posted by Jacob on Monday, November 26th, 2007 | Permalink |

A clean and green home
The soap industry does a little house cleaning

The USA today took note of the fact that there’s no internationally recognized label for detergent and other house cleaning supplies. The article notes that while the boom in green products is continuing and is likely here to stay, most of the green claims in the industry are marketing at the moment.

“At its core, green cleaning is a marketing term, not a scientific term,” says Brian Sansoni, spokesman for The Soap and Detergent Association. “Manufacturers need to ensure that their packaging, manufacturing and advertising is truthful and not misleading.”

Following a 2006 study from researcher Mintel found that 60% of consumers agreed with the statement: “I’m concerned about the impact cleaning products have on the environment.” The Soap and Detergent Association is holding its annual conference this coming February around an environmental theme, dubbing it “going beyond green”.

The challenge facing the Soap and Detergent Association if they decide to go ahead with an ecolabel will be achieving the scientific and public credibility that a good label needs to be recognized in the market. We hope the get in touch with ISEAL, a group developing best practice in this space, as a first step.

1 Comment » | Tags: news, standards
Posted by Jacob on Monday, November 26th, 2007 | Permalink |

Ecolabelled Schools Push for Greener Politicians
The student becomes the teacher.

Students from schools that are part of the Ecoschools programme are pushing politicians in Malta to stop using disposable bottles, plates and cups at their meetings and to stop mailing political leaflets.

According to an article in the Times of Malta the Ecoschools programme was introduced in 2002 by Nature Trust. Since then four schools out of sixty participants have achieved “green flag” status for their serious environmental commitment. There are 17,000 schools worldwide participating in the ecoschools programme.

No Comments » | Tags: news
Posted by Jacob on Thursday, November 22nd, 2007 | Permalink |

Six Sins of Greenwashing
Terrachoice issues a call to arms.

Terrachoice, a Canadian company that runs Ecologo, has published a report outlining the results of their survey of six big box stores and just over 1,000 products that are currently making green claims sold in them.

The major outcome of the report is a concern environmental claims, presented in the form of “six sins of greenwashing”.

The report is a landmark in our understanding of the depth of false and misleading eco-claims. It is a clarion call to those who care about protecting consumers who make the extra effort to vote green with their wallets.

It’s time to separate the green from the greenwash.

No Comments » | Tags: news, standards
Posted by Jacob on Monday, November 19th, 2007 | Permalink |

ecolabelling.org hits 200 with Debio’s Ø-label
We break 200 with Debio, an exemplary ecolabel.

We just uploaded our 200th label (high five)! Though we still see this site as a work in progress it is a good feeling to have a decent amount of content on here.

Debio is an interesting label primarily because of its history. In the mid 1980’s two competing organic schemes, Demeter and the Norwegian Organic Farming Association, took the bold step of cooperating to form a common standard: Debio.

This is the ONLY example of two labels merging in the interests of cooperation and the consumer we have found globally so far from our research on at least 200 labels.

This initial collaboration established a collaborative culture that has continued to bear fruit (no pun intended) for Debio. They were able to successfully integrate Norwegian government and EU organic standards, as well as IFOAM global standards as these developed over time.

This spirit of adaptation and cooperation drove excellent growth: In 1986, 19 farms were inspected and processed for certification. In 2005, this figure had grown to 2496 farms. That’s over 13,000% growth in less than 20 years. If only they sold shares. Debio is now expanding into textiles, forestry and aquaculture.

Canada, in contrast, recently passed legislation enacting a national eco-label (only after pressure from the EU) but the label is voluntary. That means consumers in Canada still have a host of labels to decipher and all of the other labels continue to exist and compete for consumer attention. So much for economies of scale.

In comparison to the Canadian approach and based on our global research we feel Debio is real model for this industry and hope other ecolabels around the world will take their lesson in the power of cooperation to heart. Well done you crazy Vikings!

No Comments » | Tags: news, standards
Posted by Jacob on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 | Permalink |