Here are links to 13 of the best eco labels in the market. What makes them so good? They’ve been defined by independent institutions or nonprofit organizations that have set meaningful criteria that companies must prove they’ve met in order to use the ecolabel in question. When you shop, look for these “third party” certifications to back up the claims a company makes regarding the environmental and human health benefits of their products.

NOTE: These ecolabels are among the best you’ll see when you shop. That doesn’t mean they’re perfect. They sometimes allow “wiggle room” for manufacturers, and they don’t take every possible impact into consideration. But don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good! The labels listed below are making things better, and driving manufacturers to reduce pollution, limit or eliminate use of toxic chemicals, and save energy. When we use them, we put the power of our purse to work to create support for strengthening the labels while helping to protect ourselves and our families.

Best Eco Labels

Organic – The U.S. Department of Agriculture collaborated with scientists, consumer groups, environmentalists and the agriculture industry to set standards for the meaning of the word “organic.” Products labeled “100 percent organic” must contain only organically produced ingredients. Products labeled “organic” must consist of at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients. Products meeting either set of requirements may display the USDA Organic seal on their packaging. Processed products that contain at least 70% organic ingredients may use the phrase “made with organic ingredients,” but may not use the organic seal. Processed products that contain less than 70% organic ingredients may not use the term “organic” other than to identify the specific ingredients that are organically produced in the ingredients statement. Overall, when it comes to food, the organic label, while not perfect, is the best indicator that no or minimal toxic pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics were used for growing and processing.

Green Seal – For more than 25 years, this non-profit, science-based organization has developed certification standards to minimize the environmental and health impacts related to cleaning products, coffee, paint, windows, even sticky notes. To earn the Green Seal, a product must meet rigorous evaluation and testing objectives, as must the facility where it is manufactured.

LEED – The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) label represents a green building rating system for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. A program of the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

Forest Stewardship Council – FSC sets standards to ensure that forests are being managed in an environmentally responsible way, and that products like timber, paper and furniture are made sustainably. Look for it when you buy writing and copy paper, stationery, couches, chairs, dining room sets, flooring, framing timber, packaging and packing materials.

ENERGY STAR – This label, overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, indicates homes and buildings, plus appliances, computers lightbulbs, copiers, printers, furnaces and many other products that meet strict energy-efficiency guidelines that help save energy and money and protect the environment.

Veriflora – This label is awarded to flower growers who do not use “extremely hazardous” or “highly hazardous” agrochemicals. The VeriFlora label also indicates that growers are converting to organic and sustainable crop production practices. The standard contains extensive water and ecosystem protection measures to ensure that farmers are not damaging surrounding wildlife or habitats. In addition, it requires growers to provide a fair, equitable, and safe workplace for their farmers.

Fair Trade Certified – This label (either version) demonstrates that the farmers and workers behind Fair Trade goods were paid fair wages and have opportunities for better health care, housing and education. The Fair Trade label is attached to coffee, chocolate, cocoa, tea, fruit, rice, sugar, spices and a variety of clothing and crafts produced in developing countries.

Certified Humane Raised & Handled – This label provides independent verification that the care and handling of livestock and poultry on farms enrolled in the program meet high-quality, humane animal care standards. These include access to clean and sufficient food and water; sufficient protection from inclement weather; and enough space to move about naturally.

Leaping Bunny is the certification program of the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics. The mark certifies that companies have not tested their products on animals during any stage of development. The company’s ingredient suppliers make the same pledge. Look for the Leaping Bunny label on cosmetics and personal care, household, and cleaning products.

Marine Stewardship Council – The Council’s eco-label indicates seafood that comes from fisheries that are striving to manage sustainably. Look for it on fish and shellfish, including fresh seafood sold at the counter, packaged and frozen seafood, and products like canned tuna, salmon, anchovies, sardines, and crab.

Demeter – This label represents the Demeter Farm Standard, which   indicates that a farm is organically farmed, GMO-free and also operated to promote soil fertility, animal welfare, conserve water, protect biodiversity, and managed to follow the cycles of nature. Look for it on wine, tea, juice, pasta, sauces, and many other foods.

NON-GMO Project Verified – This label indicates that products bearing it have been produced according to the best available practices for avoiding genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). It does not promise that a product is “GMO free” because there is always some risk that seeds, crops, ingredients and products have been exposed to GMOs somewhere along their growing or production cycle. It does, however, create a powerful incentive to seed breeders, farmers, processors and manufacturers to adopt practices that reduce use of GMOs while giving consumers a way to limit their exposure.

WaterSense – WaterSense is a label and program created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It’s designed to help consumers easily identify water-efficient products in the marketplace while ensuring product performance and encouraging manufacturers to create more products that help use water wisely. Look for it on indoor plumbing fixtures like faucets, toilets and shower heads, as well as outdoors in rain sensors, soil moisture sensors, and sprinkler systems.

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The post The 13 Best Eco Labels To Help You Shop Green appeared first on Big Green Purse.

How about hand lotion made from argan oil and shea butter?

Looking for a non-toxic way to ward off termites?

Or safe and healthy cleansers you can use without getting sick?

Maybe you just want a dose of inspiration to keep you living the green life, or working in your community to make it better.

You’ll find all this, and more, at the annual Green Festivals put on by Green America and Global Exchange, two non-profit organizations committed to creating a greener, more just world.

I spent this weekend at “my” Green Festival in Washington, D.C., browsing the food booths, trying on organic cotton sweaters, slathering my hands with natural cremes, meeting other entrepreneurs, and being reminded why Ralph Nader is still “the man.”

FOOD

I always go hungry to Green Festival because there’s so much good food there to eat. Vegan restaurants set up kitchens in a sort-of restaurant row, offering delicious bean empanadas, gazpacho, various stir fry dishes, and a variety of organic juices. But there’s no need to buy a meal. Throughout the event, which is spread out over one entire floor of the D.C. Convention Center, companies offer tastings of their delicious recipes. On the chocolate front alone, I sampled several of the choices I could also find at Whole Foods or my local food co-op, including toffee crunch from Equal Exchange, salted dark chocolate from Salazon (YUM!), and new all-organic chocolate granola-type bars from Kit (in the Clif bar family).

Elsewhere, you could sample a variety of snack foods made from hemp, plus coconut cookies, organic baby food, and yogurt-based power drinks. O Organics of Safeway was handing out free shopping bags and boxes of its organic chocolate milk. (In case you didn’t realize it, Safeway now carries over 300 products in this USDA-certified organic line.)

ENERGY AND HOME DESIGN

Several companies focused on renewable energy were on hand to answer questions about wind power, solar, and home insulation. Habitat for Humanity was there, too, recruiting volunteers for its various homebuilding projects in D.C.’s Maryland and Virginia suburbs, while Community Forklift was making a gentle pitch to donate reusable home goods – like windows and used paint – to the warehouse they run to provide a market for low-cost building materials. Bill Hutchins, a thoughtful and spiritual architect who also happens to be my wonderful neighbor, explained the unique approach his firm, Helicon Works, takes to ecological design. Just down the aisle, the folks at Sustainable Design Group showed off the custom zero energy homes and additions they are building across the D.C. metro area.

CLOTHING AND FASHION

I loved the fashion options I saw at this year’s Green Festival, particularly the organic cotton yoga wear made by Lila Organics and the Cowl Neck Tops created by Mod Kham. (I bought the one pictured here – $40 on sale at Green Festival). You could also find beautiful turquoise necklaces made in Nepal with Fair Trade labor, and a variety of other jewelry, scarves, belts, bags, t-shirts, skirts, and pants.

CLEANING AND SKIN CARE PRODUCTS

Karmalades is one of my favorite green cleaning lines. It’s made by Cynthia Brevil, a bold entrepreneur whose lemon lavender all-purpose cleaning spray works like a charm and is available for only $8.00 at her Etsy store. Go there, and you’ll also find various scubs, room refreshers, and some delightful products for babies, including a heavenly unscented baby butter and lavender onesie wash.

Skincando was there, too. Sara Damelio, the founder, makes balms, lip balms, soap bars and bug repellants that are so effective yet safe, they’re being shipped to our troops overseas as well as being bought everyday by people like me (and you?).

Shea Terra Organics Tammie Umbel was on hand to explain the benefits of her face and body care products and hair treatments. Some of her secret ingredients include argan oil, African black soap, and acadia honey.

Soap Box, with their slogan “soap=hope,” was handing out free bars made from shea butter, sea salt and lavender to promote its cause: for every bar you buy, the company donates a bar to a child in need. Reads the box: “More than 3,000 children’s lives could be saved every day with something as simple as a bar of soap and clean water.

RALPH NADER, STILL THE MAN!
My legs wore out just about the time Ralph Nader was due to take the Festival’s Main Stage. Luckily I got a seat in the audience; a capacity crowd turned out to hear America’s Number One consumer advocate and by the time he started speaking, it was standing room only. Nader launched right into his concerns about the threats facing everyone in the U.S. except the rich and super-rich: lack of health care, extremely low wages, pollution, and unfair labor practices.

Ralph encouraged the crowd to avoid membership in the “American Society of Apathetics” by becoming passionate advocates for heatlh, safety and justice. Taking a page directly out of the Big Green Purse playbook (or was it the other way around?), he urged people to support the green economy by voting with their dollars and shifting their purchases to many of the eco-entrepreneurs exhibiting at the festival. “I’ve never been inside a Wal Mart, a McDonald’s or a Starbucks,” he boasted, “And I get along!”

He urged his fans to start their own consumer watch dog groups. “Infuriation is the solution,” he reminded us, essentially saying: Get Mad, then Get Even!

For more information on exhibitors and when a Green Festival may be coming to your city, visit GreenFestivals.org.

The post Green Festival Offers Great Way to Try Living Green appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Why not Hershey’s? The company has been under fire for years from international organizations that monitor child welfare. Most of the world’s cocoa is produced in West Africa, where cocoa farmers typically live in poverty and where forced labor, especially among children, and human trafficking, are tragically common. Reports from concerned humanitarian groups describe how children often work long hours on cocoa farms performing hazardous work like using machetes, carrying heavy loads, and coming into close contact with toxic pesticides.

Several non-profit groups organized a “Raise the Bar” campaign to ask Hershey to take meaningful steps to combat child, forced and trafficked labor in its supply chain, and an online petition drive generated over 100,000 letters to the company asking it to improve its cocoa sourcing practices.

Happily, the company announced recently that it will commit to sourcing independently certified cocoa for its Bliss line by the end of 2012. However, Hershey’s produces many products that contain chocolate, including Almond Joy, Kit Kat, Whoppers Malted Milk Balls, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. What about responsibly sourcing ALL the cocoa it uses in all these products? Eighth grader Jasper Perry-Anderson has created a follow-up campaign on Change.org to ensure that the Hershey Company expands its commitment to certified cocoa to all its products in the future.

Which gets us back to alternatives to Hershey’s Kisses for Valentine’s Day. Look for chocolates that are certified both fair trade and organic. Fair trade helps protect kids, and organic helps protect the environment. Here are some yummy options you should be able to find in your grocery store, at food co-ops, and at chains like Whole Foods that have made a commitment to carry more sustainably produced products.

Dagoba – Ironically, Hershey owns this company, which was already organic and fair trade when it was acquired. Dagoba sources cacao, the primary ingredient used to make chocolate, from Latin America, South America and Madagascar. Their entire line of drinking chocolate, syrup, and cacao powder has been certifed Fair Trade by Transfair. You can buy a box of “bites” or choose full-fledged bars.

Endangered Species ORGANIC DARK CHOCOLATE CHIMP MINTS They’re certified organic, vegan, gluten-free, kosher Non-GMO and the cacao is sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified  ethically traded cacao farms ensuring fair trade, responsible labor practices and sustainable farming. Plus they taste good!

Wei of Chocolate –  This organic and fair trade chocolate, also certified by the Rainforest Alliance, is infused with “energetic” flower essences that they claim lead to greater tranquility, peace and joy. They’re beautifully wrapped; a box-ful would certainly enhance my peace and joy, at least as long as they lasted!

Lake Champlain Chocolates makes some delicious organic chocolates – but they’re NOT Fair Trade: Organic Chocolate Truffles from Lake Champlain Chocolates –  or organic chocolate squares in flavors that include cinnamon, sea salt and almonds, milk, and dark.

Then there’s Ghirardelli. It promotes some of its bars as “100% all natural,” but offers no explanation of what that means. There’s no mention of Fair Trade or organic on its website, either. What gives?

If you prefer chocolates from these companies, please go to their websites and encourage them to adopt certified fair labor and organic practices.

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Later this year, look for Hershey’s Bliss® products made with 100 percent cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. Rainforest Alliance Certified farms have met comprehensive sustainability standards that protect the environment and ensure the safety and well-being of workers, their families and communities. Hershey’s Bliss® chocolates are available to U.S. consumers at more than 35,000 retail outlets. Meanwhile, you can read more about Hershey’s sustainability plans here.

What Did I Miss?

If you make an organic, Fair Trade chocolate we didn’t mention here, please leave a comment with all the pertinent information. If you love an organic, Fair Trade chocolate we failed to notice, please let us know! Thanks.

The post Think Twice Before You Buy Hershey’s Kisses for Your Valentine appeared first on Big Green Purse.

When that time comes, what should you look for? We’ve previously tackled the problems with buying apparel made from bamboo, even if it claims to be “eco friendly.” Organic cotton is among the most reliable options to choose; it’s gotten pretty easy to find socks, t-shirts, maybe even some lingerie made from this “green” fiber. But beyond that, the choices are pretty slim, especially if we still do most of our clothes shopping at the mall.

So if bamboo is out and organic cotton is hard to find, what does that leave? We’ll attempt to answer that question and more with this primer on how to shop for eco-friendly clothes.

Here’s Part #1 – Read the label.

When shopping for “greener” clothes, ignore words like “environmentally friendly,” “nature safe,” and “eco.” Instead, look for third-party certifications  for claims that mean the shirt or shoes or pajamas were predominantly made from sustainable fibers by adults, not kids, in a Fair Trade process that minimizes its environmental impact. The following companies certify companies that meet these criteria.

GOTS – The Global Organic Textile Standard

The raw materials that GOTS certifies must first be approved organic by a trusted company such as The Institute for Marketecology.GOTS will then review every step in the manufacturing process, from the harvesting of raw materials right through to proper product labeling. GOTS pays special attention to the dyeing process, as this can be extremely harmful to the health of workers as well as the environment. GOTS will not certify any manufacturer that uses any heavy metals, formaldehyde, GMO enzymes or carcinogenics.

GOTS is also very strict about environmental discharge during production and chemical residues in the finished product. GOTS will grade a product as an “Organic Textile” if it has at least a 95% organic origin. They will grade a product as “Textile containing organic fibers” if it has at least 70% organic origin. Several companies partner with GOTS and share their standards, including ICEA, based in Italy, ECOCERT, based in France , the Organic Trade Association in the U.S., Soil Association, based in the UK , and the Japan Organic Cotton Association.

Global Enfant sells baby and children s products that are both COTS and SA8000 (see below) certified.
Recycle a Tee also uses GOTS certified materials.

Oeko-Tex® Standard 100

Oeko-Tex is also recognized globally as a reliable and independent 3rd party eco-certification. The company will test and if applicable, certify textile raw materials, as well as intermediate and end products at all stages of production.  Oeko-Tex will allocate a product into one of four classes based on how much contact it has with skin. Products intended for babies, for example, must meet more stringent requirements than those woven into a woman’s blouse.

Eden Home and Green Earth Bamboo  both offer Oeko-Tex-certified clothing for the whole family.

SA8000
If a company states that it is SA8000-certified, it means it has passed a globally recognized social accountability standard for fair and humane working conditions. Specifically, products must meet the following criteria to be considered for SA8000 certification: No Child Labor, No Forced Labor, Proper Health and Safety, Workers’ Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining, No Discrimination, Reasonable Working Hours, and Fair Wages.

Fair Trade Certified You may already be purchasing Fair Trade coffee or chocolate. This certifying group now also certifying apparel and linens. If you are buying apparel that has been Fair Trade Certified, you can feel good about your purchase knowing that you are helping fight poverty and develop sustainability for some of the world’s most indigent cotton farmers and factory workers.

In the US, HAE NOW and Tompkins Point Apparel are among a handful of companies that have been Fair Trade Certified.

Read more about sustainable and eco-friendly clothing here. And check back soon for Parts 2 and 3 of our eco-friendly clothing series.

The post How to Shop for Eco-Friendly Clothes – Part 1: Read the Label appeared first on Big Green Purse.

I don’t think so. Otherwise, why would a company that seems so ‘on target’ have completely missed the mark?

Their latest offering is brewed tea…sold in a box. And it’s not just any box, either. It’s a 64-ounce, “shelf stable” box you can’t recycle, since it’s made from the same waxy aseptic material juice boxes are made from. All you can do is use up the ingredients inside – which, when you get down to it, are basically nothing more than tea you could easily brew yourself at home – and throw the box away.

The company calls its boxed tea “exciting.” Somehow, the thrill of spending $5.00 for a big box of flavored water I eventually have to landfill is completely lost on me.

And honestly, it doesn’t matter if Pacific Natural’s product is organic, fair trade, and otherwise “politically correct.” This is a convenience food at an inconvenient time (i.e., with a global warming impact) that will only add to the trash you have to cart out to the curb or the dump every week.

Thumbs down.

P.S. If you want to send the company a note telling them what you think of their new product, you can contact them here.

Or maybe you should just send them a tea bag.

The post Do We Really Need Brewed Tea in a Box? appeared first on Big Green Purse.