Whether it’s food, personal hygiene products, household cleaners or paper products, what do all those labels mean? You know the ones: small logos placed in a row along the back of a package of herbal tea, or the now ubiquitous green and white circle with the words “USDA Organic.”
A great place to find this information is the Consumers Union Guide to Environmental Labels.
You can search by logo, browse an index of labels or suggest a label to add to the database. A stated goal of their web site is “to provide information to consumers regarding eco-labels, products that carry eco-labels, the organizations that produce eco-labels, and government and private standards for “green” products.”
Each label includes a brief report card that assigns a rating to how meaningful the label is considered to be, along with an evaluation of consistency, whether or not information about the standards are publicly available, whether there is conflict of interest, and if the standards the label represents were developed with broad public and industry input.
The in-depth description includes a detailed table of label standards and criteria, a summary description of the organization, contact information and a list of the board of directors. The site was developed by Consumers Union.
