‘Green Seal’ Will Certify Environmental Approval
Makers of consumer products from toilet paper to house paint will vie for a new Green Seal of “environmental friendliness” under a national program announced Thursday by a broad coalition of environmental and public-interest groups.
The new Green Seal organization plans to award manufacturers the right to display its symbol of approval on products deemed to cause “the least harm and provide the most benefit to the environment.” Companies will be allowed to use the seal in advertisements as well as on packages.
Green Seal said it will set up an Environmental Standards Council of scientists and other experts to develop criteria to judge products. The council said it will actively seek comments from manufacturers, consumer groups, government officials, environmental organizations and the public.
The first categories of products to be evaluated are light bulbs, laundry cleaners, toilet paper, facial tissue and house paint. Green Seal invited the public to suggest other categories.
In the beginning, products will be tested by independent laboratories using Green Seal-approved methods. The group also plans to have its own independent technical staff. It promises a “cradle-to-grave” evaluation of products, in contrast to the self-labeling efforts now used by many individual manufacturers, who cite such single factors as the percentage of recycled fiber used in a paper product.
Cradle-to-grave evaluation means examining a product’s environmental impact as it goes from raw material, through manufacturing, through consumer use and finally to disposal or recycling. A product whose ingredients are considered benign might flunk the Green Seal test if, for example, its manufacturing process produced pollution.
Green Seal is the first independent, nationwide environmental-labeling program. The organization has offices in Washington, D.C., and Palo Alto. Among its directors are leaders of the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Worldwatch Institute, Public Citizen and the Council on Economic Priorities.
Denis Hayes, organizer of Earth Day 1990, will direct Green Seal Inc., as a nonprofit group. It hopes to become self-sustaining by charging licensing fees to manufacturers.
The Green Seal program will apparently compete with Green Cross, an evaluation system supported by four major retailers, including Compton-based Ralphs Grocery Co. and Raley’s of Sacramento.
Green Cross will issue its first seal, the Green Cross Recycling Seal of Approval, in July.
“We seem to be taking very different approaches,” Michael McCloskey, chairman of the Sierra Club and a Green Seal director, said Thursday. “But I think there may be complementary roles for the two systems.”
McCloskey believes the Green Cross approach sets “mechanical” standards--such as the simple requirement that a paper product be 50% recycled fiber--which could help some consumers choose environmentally friendly products, but fails to adequately encourage innovation in product and package design.
By contrast, Green Seals will be awarded to encourage continual upgrading of packaging and manufacturing practices, said McCloskey.
