Eco labels

Here are the most common eco-labels you’ll see on products.

Environmental Choice logo

Domestic eco-label

Environmental Choice is a government-backed scheme run by the New Zealand Ecolabelling Trust. To get the scheme's tick, products have to meet criteria relating to their manufacture, packaging and distribution.

Comparable international labels on imported goods include the Blue Angel (Germany), Good Environmental Choice Australia, Green Seal (US), EU Ecolabel and the Nordic Ecolabel.

Energy efficiency

Energy Star label

Energy Star is an international energy efficiency label. The label is awarded to the top 25 percent of the most energy-efficient appliances and electronic products. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority promotes the label here. Qualifying products are listed on its website.

Organic foods

There are four organic certification labels in New Zealand:

• AsureQuality Organic is run by AsureQuality, a commercial company owned by the government.
• BioGro Organic is run by BioGro New Zealand, an independent certification body.
• Demeter is an international certification scheme for biodynamic farming. The Bio Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association runs the scheme here.
  

When you're buying imported organic products, look for labels accredited by IFOAM, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.

The CCF logo

No animal testing

Choose Cruelty Free (CCF) accredits both Australian and New Zealand companies which claim their products and ingredients aren't tested on animals.

Products that measure up carry the CCF bunny logo. But there are many variations of this logo on products that aren’t CCF accredited.

The similar Ecostore logo

Pick up Ecostore products and you’ll find a bunny logo that’s almost the mirror image of CCF’s. Ecostore’s Malcolm Rands told us the company doesn’t test on animals but hasn’t sought third-party certification of this claim.

Ecostore says it’s currently doing the paperwork to apply for CCF accreditation.

July 2010 update: Ecostore has now got CCF accreditation.

Third-party certification

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Products with third-party certification are still the exception: companies often argue certification “costs too much”. We think that’s an easy excuse and one that doesn't hold up.

Environmental Choice, for example, tags licence fees to sales. A company with net sales of $1 million would pay $2500 (ex GST) in fees – that’s less than 0.3 percent of the net sales value. The most any company would pay is $17,500 (ex GST) and that fee kicks in only after net sales rise above $10 million.

More information

• Ecolabels directory: www.med.govt.nz/ecolabels

Report by Jessica Wilson.