Ecolabel is a labelling system for consumer products (including foods) that are made in a fashion that avoids detrimental effects on the environment.  Many (but not all) ecolabels are not directly connected to the firms that manufacture or sell the ecolabelled products. Just as for the quality assurance labelling systems it is of imperative importance that the labelling entity is clearly divided from and independent of the manufacturers. All ecolabelling is voluntary, meaning that they are not mandatory by law.

Main Ecolabels given by a third-party organization

Ecologo is North-America's most widely recognized and respected multi-attributes environmental certification. In one word: trustworthy. If a product get this logo, it means that all environmental impacts of the product have been evaluated and the product meets the environmental standard. Manufacturing process and environmental impacts when the product is ultimately recycled or disposed of have been checked. Ecologo is the only program in North-America to have been accredited by the Global Ecolabelling Network. 

Forest Stewardship Council ecolabel (FSC) is found on timber products from forestry operations that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as meeting the highest standards for environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management. The timber is tracked through the supply chain to the end product, so that consumers can choose to buy sustainably harvested wood over alternatives that may be contributing to deforestation worldwide.

Local Food Plus is a certification for Ontario products. By choosing LFP certified food, you enjoy fresh food from Ontario, support environmentally responsible farming, conserve energy and cut greenhouse gases, ensuring fair conditions for farm workers, provide humane care for livestock, preserve farmland and wildlife habitats and foster a strong local economy. 

Canada Organic: In december 2005, the federal government announced an unified regulation plan on organic products after European Union had threatened to ban Canadians organic products because they were not meeting European standards. When the organic produce regulation comes into full force in december, 14 2008, Canada Organic labeled products will be certified as meeting the National Organic Standards.

For å få lov til å bruke miljømerket Blomsten på TV'ene sine må produsentene oppfylle krav til:

• Lavt energiforbruk
• Redusert bruk av miljø- og helseskadelige stoffer
• Økt mulighet til gjenvinning av materialer
• Økt mulighet til enkel håndtering ved gjenvinning.

Kilde: Ecolabel.no

Mer om Samsungs miljømerkede flatskjermer finner du her:

• Ecolabel.no - Samsung med miljømerket LCD-tv
• Samsung.no - SAMSUNG med miljømerket LCD-TV

 All Natural Resources on our planet are limited an finite, to prolong our yields of the Earth we must seek in giving back to it for the next harvest. Market economics rests on the assumption that ‘the customer is always right’. You are the customer, or at least you used to be before we were lulled into being consumers.

 By making demands of suppliers to meet your environmental needs and expectations, you will find that more than likely the producer of the product will adapt. So next time you were thinking about making a purchase. Think about it’s life cycle and the environmental impact of the resources used to create, maintain and dispose of that product.

 So please take a look at the International Green Purchasing Network and purchase products that are approved with your national Ecolabel to help make a sustainable difference.

Il Convegno di Ecolabel i terrà presso l'Hotel Dante viale Milazzo 81, angolo lungomare G. Deledda proprio vicinissimo al MERCURIALI BEACH che si trova al numero 204!!

Vi aspettiamo per la pausa pranzo!

Perhaps as more people write about ecological issues, the tags will help link more articles together.

This list is based on ecolabel in the GEMET Thesaurus(Eionet) and ecolabel on OmegaWiki, with additions as I discover them. Eionet is the European Environment Information and Observation Network. GEMET is their GEneral Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus.

I am making the information in the Table available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

If you know of any more translations, comment please!

This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

Lorsque soudain c'est le drame :

Je constate que je fais la confusion entre le logo recyclable (anneau de Möbius ici à gauche) qui signifie que le produit ou l'emballage est recyclable (ce qui ne veut pas dire qu'il sera forcément recyclé) et le logo du point-vert (à droite) qui indique que le producteur contribue financièrement à un dispositif aidant à développer des dispositifs de collectes sélectives des déchets d'emballage : cela n'a rien à voir avec le recyclage potentiel du produit ou de l'emballage qui le porte (on le trouve sur la quasi totalité de nos emballages).

Coupé net dans mon élan l'espace d'un instant, j'interromps donc mes recherches pour ce billet,

au cas où je ne sois pas le seul à faire cette confusion...

The original recycling symbol was designed by Gary Anderson. He won a contest in 1970 - the year of the first Earth Day - at the International Design Conference in Aspen, Colorado out of over 500 entries. Gary's original design had the triangle pointing downwards.

The internationally recognisable recycling symbol design of three chasing arrows is sometimes called a Mobius loop, based on August Ferdinand Möbius' - a 19th century German mathematician - discovery that a band of paper joined with a half twist forms a continuous single-edged, one-sided surface.

The contest was sponsored by the Container Corporation of America (CCA), then the USA's largest paper recycler, to find a design that symbolized the recycling process for its 100% recycled paperboard products.

By the time CCA applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the symbol as a trademark, the symbol was becoming popular due to CCA’s promotion of it. The registration was challenged and CCA allowed the design into the public domain without a fight.

CCA later designed two further versions:

1. arrows within a circle connoted recycled content: white arrows in a black circle meant 100 % recycled content; black arrows in a white circle meant recycled content of a stated percentage.
2. arrows as an outline with no circle connoted that an item was recyclable.

This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

(This content is based on the American Forest & Paper Association's (AF&PA) Paper Recycling Symbols and the May 1999 Resource Recycling article "Gary Anderson Has Been Found!" available from that page. The image is sourced from that article.)

It started as a European programme in 1994 to involve young people in finding solutions to environmental and sustainable development challenges at the local level, as identified at the UN Conference on Environment and Development - Earth Summit - of 1992.

Apparently some 40,000 schools are now involved internationally!

The Eco-Schools programme is an example of how local communities can act to support Local Agenda 21, resulting in tangible environmental benefits. School students participate in both activities and decision-making, developing skills for and a sense of value in citizenship, and building community links with local authorities, organisations, businesses, and pupils´ families.

The programme is adaptable to local circumstances, whether incorporating the initial focusses of Water, Energy and Waste, or other thematic areas such as Noise, Nature and Biological Diversity, Healthy Living or Transport. In Africa, for example,

Eco-Schools can be an instrument for education on health and sanitation, community-based natural resource management, as well as an incubator for local-level microprojects leading to income generation for the school and training for young people in sustainable, natural-resource based trades.

The Eco-Schools programme is recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as among its "preferred school-based / children and youth global model programmes for environmental education, management, sustainability and certification at the international level".

There's a seven-point action plan to implement, which involves students throughout.

The Eco-Schools Programme - like the FEE's Blue Flag Programme - runs nationally in many countries. Again, in the UK different bodies run the Programme in different regions: for England and Northern Ireland there's EnCams (Environmental Campaigns), for Scotland Keep Scotland Beautiful, and for Wales Keep Wales Tidy - and the Welsh body works with An Taisce (The National Trust for Ireland) in the Republic of Ireland.

In the UK, participation in the Eco-Schools Programme can lead to gaining a Green Flag Award. But note... this is a different Green Flag to the Green Flag the Eco-Schools Programme awards (as shown here)! Of course, you can always have both flags. :)

For the UK there is an informative, dedicated Eco-Schools website.

Eco-Schools is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and supported by the European Commission.

This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

The Blue Flag is an eco-label awarded to thousands of beaches and marinas across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, New Zealand, Canada and the Caribbean.

The Blue Flag works towards sustainable development at beaches/marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services. The Programme includes environmental education and information for the public, decision makers and tourism operators. For boats there is a code of conduct.

The Blue Flag was first awarded in France in 1985 to French coastal municipalities for sewage treatment and bathing water quality. In 1987, which was the "European Year of the Environment", the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE) presented the concept of the Blue Flag to the European Commission. The Blue Flag Programme was accepted as one of the "European Year of the Environment" activities in the Community.

In 2001 FEE became a global organisation, changing name from FEEE to FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education). FEE is an independent non-profit organisation which owns and runs the Blue Flag Programme. FEE has been co-operating with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Tourism Organization (WTO) on extending the Programme to areas outside Europe.

Beach Criteria

Marina Criteria

Blue Flag for Boats

The individual Blue Flag can be awarded to interested boat owners/users wanting to contribute to the Blue Flag Programme. The boat owner signs a code of conduct declaring that he/she will act according to the environmental issues outlined in the code of conduct.

There are 13 issues in the environmental code of conduct covering protecting and respecting the environment, plants and animals, fishing practices and archaeological underwater findings, and encouraging other sailors to take care of the environment.

The flags show the year the award is valid for. At the end of the season the flags are sent to the nearest recycling centre, as the flags themselves comply with the textiles criteria of the EU Eco-label.

• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• World Conservation Union (IUCN)
• United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (not to be confused with the World Trade Organization (WTO)!)
• International Lifesaving Federation (ILS)
• Coastal Union (EUCC)
• International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA)
• European Union (the Directorate General for Environment), and
• Reef Check.

Blue Flag runs nationally in many countries. But whereas Brazil has only one national body overseeing the Programme, in the UK we seem to have a slightly different idea about nationhood, as different bodies run the Programme in different regions: for England and Northern Ireland there's EnCams (Environmental Campaigns), for Scotland Keep Scotland Beautiful, and for Wales Keep Wales Tidy - and the Welsh body works with An Taisce (The National Trust for Ireland) in the Republic of Ireland.

This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

Cercatelo sui prodotti, quando potete.
Ad es. ho trovato un detersivo per piatti e uno per lavastoviglie certificati con il marchio ecolabel e anche la carta igenica riciclata.

Questo è il catalogo europeo interattivo per cercare ogni prodotto con tale certificato

http://www.eco-label.com/italian/

queste le categorie con cui darsi da fare nella ricerca:
Detergenti multiuso e per sanitari
Materassi
Camping
Carta e carta da fotocopie
Lavastoviglie
Detersivi per lavastoviglie
Calzature
Detersivi per lavare i piatti a mano
Coperture per pavimenti
Pitture da interni e vernici
Detersivi per bucato
Lampadine
Lubrificanti, fluidi idraulici
Frigoriferi
Concime
Televisioni
Prodotti tessili
Tovaglioli/fazzoletti/cartaigenica
Turismo (B&B, agriturismi, hotel, rifugi)

Dove si trovano?
presenti in quasi tutte le catene di distribuzione, ma ovviamente ti propinano solo le grandi marche in bella mostra....ma chi cerca trova!

Maggiori informazioni sul sito.

The Swan is the official Nordic ecolabel, and it "demonstrates that a product is a good environmental choice". In 1989, the Nordic Council of Ministers decided to introduce a common, impartial, official environmental label for the Nordic region.

So, five for the price of one - very economic! The (green) Swan is a variation on the (blue Swan) logo of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The activities within Nordic Ecolabelling are coordinated by the Nordic Ecolabelling Board.

Some quick statistics:

• 67% of people in the Nordic countries understand the Swan
• 77% of Swedes consider that the Swan makes a brand extremely reliable.

Are there statistics like these for other countries' symbols?

I am a bit surprised that the logos presented, and indeed used, on different sites differ in shade of green. I imagined that the colour would be tightly controlled, at least when used on official sites.

Denmark: Ecolabelling Denmark.
Danmark: Miljømærkning Danmark (www.ecolabel.dk)
Finland: Ecolabelling Finland.
Suomi: Ympäristömerkki Miljömärkt (www.ecolabel.fi) or SFS-Ympäristömerkintä (www.ymparistomerkki.fi)
Iceland: The English link given, The Environment and Food Agency of Iceland, provides no English) information about ecolabelling.
Ísland: The link www.svanurinn.is (more useful and memorable) points to information at Norræna umhverfismerkið Svanurinn (Nordic ecolabel Swan) on the Agency's site.
Norway: see Sweden for English information.
Norge: Nordisk Miljømerking (www.ecolabel.no)
Sweden: The Swan, and the apparently older site Nordic Ecolabelling.
Sverige: Miljömärkning Svanen (www.svanen.nu), Nordisk Miljømærkning (www.ecolabel.se), Nordisk Miljømærkning (www.ecolabel.nu)
And English versions of the Nordic Ecolabel.

The Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council introduced "the Swan" in 1985 as the symbol of official Nordic co-operation. The blue Swan with eight wing feathers represents the five Nordic states - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - and the three autonomous territories - Faroe Islands (Denmark), Greenland (Denmark) and Åland (Finland). It was designed by the Finnish artist Kyösti Varis.

The trademarked symbol was adapted in 2004 to include the logotype "Norden" (or "Pohjola" in Finnish), to reflect the widening role of regional partnerships and the unifying concept the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Nordic Council and the Nordic Cultural Fund. The expanding region that partnerships are developing in is also part of this changing perspective, including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

[ Text is partly taken or adapted - with various additions - from The Swan Story and Get Labelled!. Information on the Swan's history from New Nordic Region - new trademark and The Swan symbol and the logotype Norden - the Nordic logo. ]

This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

The Blue Angel logo was adopted from the UNEP logo (United Nations Environment Programme), which was created in 1972. (The UN logo was designed in 1942.)

The German eco-label design contest winners were not considered: 1st - Albrecht Ade; 2nd - Anton Stankowski; 3rd - Roman Antonoff. The second place design appears to contain a reference to the UNEP Blue Angel, whilst the first and third place designs have the sort of symbolism that would later feature in many recycling designs.

Perhaps because of its design background, the Blue Angel is unusual in containing no parts in green, the colour now widely associated with environmental issues.

The Blue Angel is the property of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety. It is sponsored and administered by the Federal Environmental Agency and the quality assurance and product labelling institute RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V. (German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification).

For more background, see the Blue Angel - The System

There is a second version of the Blue Angel with additional text: (top) "Environmental mark" (bottom) "because" with reason (in this case, "(made from) 100% recycled paper")

This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

The European Union Eco-label or Flower is

a voluntary scheme designed to encourage businesses to market products and services that are kinder to the environment and for European consumers - including public and private purchasers - to easily identify them.

I don't recall ever seeing the Eco-label. Just how far has it spread?

Combining information from several official pages...

Established in 1992, the EU Eco-label scheme is open to any product or service, except food, drink, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The scheme is run by the (aptly-named) European Union Eco-labelling Board (EUEB). There are currently twenty-three product categories which can receive this award, ranging from tourist accommodation service, home appliances, cleaning materials, and mattresses to office supplies, gardening and Do It Yourself products, and already more than 250 licences have been awarded for several hundred products. Products covered by the scheme can be searched at Eco-Label catalogue.

Hmmm. The armchair critic swings into action. [Ed. Oops. A bit later he sits down and takes a breath.]

The EU is one of the largest markets in the world. It has an enormous range of manufacturers and products. The Eco-label was established in 1992; it's now 2007; that's 15 years. 250 licences have been awarded for several hundred products. That's 17 licences per year. At this glacial pace, Europe's products will be labelled by the next Ice Age. Perhaps that's why I've never seen it?

However, according to Ecolabels : Directgov - Environment and greener living, "In the UK products with the Flower label include kitchen rolls, toilet tissue, paints and clothing."

So I must not be looking in the right place.

Update - 2008/02/20:

Somewhere I picked up some really, really bad statistics. There's actually several thousand eco-labelled products!

And now I've started looking for - or perhaps stopped overlooking - the flower, I can see it all over the place.

You can find the EU Flower throughout the European Union as well as in Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

Update - 2008/02/03: In the UK the Ecolabelling Competent Body is the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

Turns out the "Green Dot" is used on packaging in some European countries to show that the manufacturer has paid a fee to a national packaging recovery company.

So it does NOT have anything to do with the packaging at all!

 It took far too much time for me to find this out. How can something so simple, be so unobvious.

• In the UK it may appear on packaging that's (1) been imported, or (2) used on export packaging so the company doesn't have to make special packaging for the UK.
• For an easy introduction — the Green Dot Licensing Company (a trading name of Valpak UK Ltd) manages the scheme in the UK.
• For everything there is to know about it — Der Grüne Punkt (or the Green Dot in English) from Duales System Deutschland GmbH which manages the entire scheme.
• It's a registered trademark.
• It's on Wikipedia: Green Dot.

That's my homework done for the week.

This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

(Should I care?)

Mes Produits d'entretien bio

- nettoyant ménager multi usage Ecoever, 3.54 €

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une petite odeur de citron.... pas irritant comme les produits classiques...

- nettoyant pour les vitres Ecoever, 4.51 €

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Nettoie correctement... vous vous rappelez la sensation de picotement dans la gorge quand vous vaporisez votre produit sur les vitres .... et bien avec celui-ci ... fini...! Un peu cher quand même...!

- bloc WC, 4.60 €
Vendu avec une recharge... très simple.... se présente sous forme d'un cube gros comme un morceaux de sucre avec un porte-bloc et une recharge.... ça dure longtemps et au niveau efficacité, cela me parait être la même chose qu'un bloc "classique"....

- gel WC Arbre Vert au Romarin, 2.40 €

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A propos des produits d'entretien bio, j'ai découvert un peu tard et avec surprise que certains produits type Arbre Vert ou Rainett sont écologiques (Ecolabel européen : LE label écologique européen. Il atteste que les produits contribuent au respect de l'environnement tout en étant aussi efficaces et performants que les produits semblables, destinés au même usage." Ce label définit une liste de matières premières autorisées qui répondent aux nouveaux critères de biodégradabilité (en aérobiose et anaérobiose), tout en limitant la toxicité du produit pour la dose recommandée.) et non testés sur les animaux.... Ils sont vendus en grande surface et coûtent moins chers que ceux vendus en magasin bio..... une fois mes produits chimiques et Ecoever terminés, je compte me rabattre dessus...! La gamme de Rainett est plus large que celle d'Arbre Vert... mais chez Arbre Vert on trouve tout de même des nettoyants à l'amande, au romarin, à l'orange, à la verveine...(parfum naturel) et un pour peaux sensibles.

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