What Do All of These Eco-Certifications Mean?
I’m sure I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, checking for 3rd-party certifications from a brand is one of the best ways to rule out greenwashing and determine if the brand is truly eco-friendly or not. But, what do these certifications even mean?
Let’s dive in today to discuss what these 10 most popular zero waste certifications mean and how to use them to spot greenwashing or find a truly eco brand. Let’s go!
B-Corp
B-Corp isn’t just about environmental sustainably but it’s overall good business practices from fair labor, charitable giving, and employee benefits, too. Here’s what B-Corp has to say about it:
“B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials. In order to achieve certification, a company must:
Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review. Multinational corporations must also meet baseline requirement standards.
Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.
Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.”
Something to keep in mind with B-Corp, though, is that it’s for large businesses only. They really only start looking into your company if you make $5 million or more a year and employ 50 or more people. So, if a small brand isn’t a certified B-Corp, that doesn’t make them unsustainable or unethical, it just means they don’t meet the threshold to even apply to become B-Corp certified.
Overall, their goal is to make the world and our global economy not only more profitable for a few people, but for everyone as well as the planet. They want everyone to have fair, equitable, inclusive, and regenerative systems.
My only critique is that they do not accept small businesses, but I’m sure that has to do with workload and how long it takes to certify businesses. Other than that, I love B-Corp and think they are a good cert to watch out for for larger businesses.
FSC - Forest Stewardship Council
This is your go-to cert when looking for sustainable paper and paper products. They are “the leader in sustainable forestry.” Since trees are what breathe life into the entire planet (literally), the folks at FSC see this importance so they want to “nurture responsible forestry so forests and people can thrive.”
Well, it’s not just FSC that certifies brands, it’s a whole group of over 1,000 individuals and organizations spanning from environmental interest groups, researchers, indigenous communities, labor unions, foresters, and retail companies.
But what does sustainable forestry mean?
They look at the entire product chain from the forest all the way to your home to see how sustainable it is. Their label means that the paper products don’t contribute to any deforestation; they safeguard ancient, endangered, and old-growth forests; fair wages and a fair work environment are provided for all; they preserve biodiversity; and they include the rights of the community and indigenous peoples.
So, this certification isn’t necessarily saying “This toilet paper is FSC-certified” but rather the forest where the brand got the paper to then turn into toilet paper is FSC-certified. They’re certifying forests! This is news to me. They also certify any forest no matter the size and no matter what the harvesting practices look like. So, you can certify a forest you own and then start selling your trees if you want to. However, FSC could also imply that the paper is recycled. Regardless, it means it was sustainably harvested or recycled.
Now, what I was most curious about is how much of the paper product has to come from FSC-certified forests for a brand to use its label. For example, if Charmin toilet paper uses 1% FSC-certified paper, can they use the FSC label on their products? Is there a threshold? Yes! To be fully FSC-certified, it must be made with 100% FSC-certified paper. But, you can also have an FSC-mix certification which means 70% FSC, and 30% not. This is great news. I was worried this could be used to greenwash easily, but turns out it can’t!
I was skeptical about FSC going into this but I think it’s a pretty good cert to support.
1% for the Planet (1%FTP)
Okay, going into this, I’m predicting that 1% of the Planet is going to lead to greenwashing, but let’s do some digging first.
Their purpose is “to inspire commitment and action so that our planet and future generations thrive.”
Their mission is “to accelerate smart environmental giving and prevent greenwashing.”
And their impact is “they’ve certified over $ 585 million in environmental giving to date.”
What do they do? They certify donations and make sure they’re going to legitimate environmental organizations. This is great! We don’t want companies donating to fake environmental causes.
But, what does the name mean? It means that a brand has committed at least 1% of annual sales to environmental organizations by donating directly. They then submit any receipts to 1%FTP to be certified as a 1%FTP member.
So, it’s a tax write-off. Are some companies doing this out of the goodness of their heart? I’m sure they are! I’m sure companies like REI, Patagonia, Allbirds, and others who are 1%FTP certified truly care about the planet and want to put their money to good use. But, I just can’t help but see the downsides of 1%FTP. I’m sure there are some wasteful companies out there who donate a measly 1% of their sales, write it off as a tax-exempt donation, and then slap this label on their products to tout how good they are.
I’m personally weary of this one. If this is the only “certification” a brand has, that doesn’t make it eco-friendly. They could be polluting, using plastic, using single-use, and so much more harm, but donate just 1% of their sales. That doesn’t make a brand eco. So, look for other certs.
Also, something else, as I tried to become 1%FTP certified about 2 years ago, not only do you have to donate 1% and prove to 1%FTP that you did so, but you also have to pay a membership fee in order to use their logo. Anywho, I didn’t become 1%FTP certified but I still do donate at least 1% every year.
USDA Organic
This is the United States Department of Agriculture, so your country may have something similar if you’re outside the US. Since this is the government, this stuff is dry and there’s a lot of it. Here is the short version:
Land requirements: cultivation practices must maintain or improve the soil conditions; must manage crop nutrients through crop rotations and fertilizer (compost or animal waste); farming practices must not contaminate crops, soil, or water by any substances; must not use any synthetic substance, sewage, or burned materials. Must have runoff diversions to prevent pollution.
Pest and weed management: must manage to prevent pests, weeds, and diseases with crop rotations, soil management, and using native plants; pests may be controlled with non-synthetic controls such as lures and traps; weeds may be controlled with mulch, compost, mowing, grazing, hand weeding, flame, or plastic/synthetic mulches only if they are removed from the field at the end of the growing or harvest season.
Prohibited substances:
Synthetics. But, some ARE allowed: alcohol, ethanol, chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, ozone gas, and ammonium carbonate (insecticide), among others as long as they don’t contribute to pollution.
Nonsynthetics such as ash, arsenic, lead salts, tobacco dust, among others.
Ionizing radiation
Sewage sludge
Okay, that was a lot. What it boils down to is:
USDA organic means foods are grown and processed according to the federal guidelines regarding soil, animals, pests, weeds, and additives
Growers rely on natural substances
Growers use no prohibited substances for at least 3 years
Livestock are raised in living conditions that accommodate their natural behaviors, fed 100% organic feed, and not administered antibiotics and hormones
Packaged products are made with at least 70% organic ingredients
I think organic is nowhere near perfect, but I think it’s a good certification to look out for if you’re trying to limit pollution to the earth and care about what you eat.
OEKO-TEX
This is a certification used on our clothing and it is used to make sure that our textiles are free from toxins. It means that every component, down to the thread, is tested against a list of 350 toxic substances to the planet and our own health.
I wasn’t too impressed with their website. I read through all of their individual certifications and they really did not outline their criteria. I guess their criteria is that they just don’t contain those 350 toxic substances, which is great, of course. Of course, this is important for our health but this can also reduce the amount of water, air, and soil pollution by not using these toxic substances.
I think this is a great certification to have, but I wish their website had more information.
Fairtrade
You’ll see this label a lot on things like chocolate, coffee, and more. Their main goal is to enable farmers and workers to have more control over their lives, futures, and farms. The first thing you may notice about Fairtrade as a consumer is the price. Why is it so much more expensive? This premium provides a safety net against falling prices for farmers and workers and allows them to invest in the quality of their business and their local community. Basically, this is the price you pay to support small farmers. This is part of the Fairtrade-certified criteria.
They also have environmental criteria such as emphasizing ecological and agriculturally sound practices, minimal use of pesticides, and the prohibition of several hazardous materials. I don’t love this. It’s very vague and doesn’t fully ban all harmful substances that can impact the farmers, their water and soil, and us as consumers.
And, there are also social criteria such as including cooperatives, no discrimination, minimum wages, unionizing, worker health and safety, and the prohibition of slave and child labor. This is also vague and far from perfect, but I do like that they for sure do not condone any slave or child labor unlike some chocolate producers (cough cough HERSHEY).
I think their certification criteria are quite vague and probably easy to weasel around. I think it’s better than having no certification, but I wouldn’t say this is the best certification out there.
Image from Squarespace
Rainforest Alliance
This certification focuses on climate, biodiversity, forest, human rights, and livelihood. Their certification means “that the certified ingredient was produced using methods that support the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental. Independent, third-party auditors—critical to the integrity of any certification program—evaluate farmers against requirements in all three areas before awarding or renewing certification.”
Does it mean that just one ingredient was produced sustainably? If it’s Rainforest Alliance chocolate, is it just the cacao? What about the milk and sugar? Let’s keep digging. Well, in 2019, 80% of the Rainforest Alliance products contained 90-100% certified ingredients. So, no, the logo does not mean it’s 100% sustainable.
This paired with their lack of data on what it actually takes to become certified kind of gives greenwashing to me. Again, it’s better than nothing, but this certification isn’t all that great to me.
GOTS
This certification is from the “Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibers. This certification provides credible assurance of responsible manufacturing with the least chemical inputs. Ultimately, it ensures quality organic fabric for end consumers.” Basically, it’s making our clothing and other textiles such as towels and bedding sustainable and healthy.
Being GOTS certified means an annual inspection to make sure they are remaining up to standard, assessing all accessories used, monitoring social criteria, and ensuring proper waste disposal. Companies must also keep a comprehensive list record of the use of chemicals, energy, water, and wastewater.
Now, cotton is an issue for another day. It’s not very sustainable even when done organically. But, when cotton and other natural fibers are used, it is important that as much harm is reduced as possible. So, I think this is a good place to start.
Like other certs, I think their website and criteria are a little vague.
RSPO
If you’ve been around a while, you know I have a grudge against RSPO. I’m sure you’ve caught on to the theme by now that a lot of these certs are very vague in their claims and criteria. I think this is another cert that’s very easy for brands to use to greenwash. But, let’s get into it and you can be the judge.
RSPO stands for The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Palm oil is notorious for deforestation, biodiversity loss, and many other harmful practices. Here’s what it takes to become certified sustainable in the palm oil business:
Meet the standards and criteria outlined by ISEAL (not even included on their website)
Get 3rd-party certification bodies to conduct audits to evaluate the member. 3rd-party is always good. I believe this used to be in-house!
And process the requirements
Probably the most known item to use palm oil, Oreos. Image from Squarespace.
Let’s see what those ISEAL criteria are. First, the link on RSPO’s site takes you to the ISEAL homepage and then you have to dig for the credibility principles yourself. Don’t love that. Make it easier for consumers to see how sustainable (or not sustainable) you are. Anyway, these (vague) principles are:
sustainability impacts
collaboration
value creation
measurable progress
stakeholder engagement
transparency
impartiality
reliability
truthfulness
continual improvement
That’s a lot. And what’s more, is their paragraph upon paragraph of mumbo-jumbo on their website. What they have listed under each of these criteria is nothing substantial. No numbers, no proof, nothing.
This is the vaguest one we’ve covered, I think. Again, yes, any cert is better than nothing, but this cert really doesn’t amount to much.
Carbon-Neutral
Our last one for today is carbon-neutral. What does that mean? It is “achieved by calculating a carbon footprint and reducing it to zero through a combination of efficiency measures in-house and supporting external emission reduction projects.” So, it’s a combination of a brand reducing emissions as well as offsetting their emissions through programs like tree planting. If you want to learn more about carbon offsets in full, check out this post.
Define what should be covered in your footprint
Measure your footprint accurately
Develop a target for your reduced footprint and offset remaining emissions
Continued reduction of emissions and continued offsetting
You know what I’m going to say, how vague! I wish there was a threshold of a certain amount of emissions that needed to be reduced. In theory, a company could reduce just 1% of its emissions, offset the rest, and then become certified carbon neutral. You really should check out my full post on offsetting because it can be used to greenwash so easily. What would be cool is to see something like a 50% or more reduction of emissions before a brand is even allowed to consider offsetting for the sake of this certification. This one feels super easy to greenwash right along with 1% for the planet. In fact, they could double them. They could invest 1% or more of their revenue into tree-planting which would get them both certifications.
This is a step in the right direction but boy is it far from perfect.
Thank you so much for reading along. I know this one got long and dense so thanks for sticking with me. I hope you learned something and can now be a more conscious consumer.
Let us know your thoughts below and, as always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)
Emma
