As part of its Buying Better project, CFA member the Total Environment Centre has release four short reports on the key environmental issues that should guide consumer and business purchase in the areas of paper, cleaning products, small electronics and meat.
In an effort to stem consumer concern from a flood of ‘eco-labels’ and self-created green claims by product manufacturers in recent years, the Buying Better project released its proposals to improve the reliability of ‘green’ credentials today.
The Buying Better project – undertaken by Green Capital, the business sustainability arm of the Total Environment Centre –investigated the green claims for 4 products: beef, cleaning products, small electronic goods and printing paper.
‘The findings show that a plethora of confusing and self-serving claims inevitably undermines consumer confidence as the “greening” of many product lines has attempted to move into the consumer mainstream,” said TEC executive director Jeff Angel.
“Consuming products is not just about the private purchase contract, it’s about the effect of those decisions on society as a whole, and the health of the environment which sustains us all. So we have to get it right.”
Mr Angel said the findings show that “Paper claims are almost chaotic; beef is just starting the sustainability journey, with early warnings of confusion; while small electronics needs government intervention. Laundry products meanwhile, now have so many different label claims, we’d be surprised if anyone takes any notice of them,” he said.
The Buying Better project offers solutions as well as a critique of current practice.
“We’ve tried to make labelling across the board simpler by saying what’s most important in Australian terms across the product cycle, from production, to use, to disposal. For example, with paper it is where and how the timber is obtained and the manufacturing process; for beef it is the sustainable management of the grazing lands, as well as wastage by consumers; and for cleaning products it is about overall use, whether you really need some products such as throw-away wipes, and also needed is more transparency on ingredients.”
“Some of our findings may go against conventional ideas but we focussed on what will make the biggest difference in Australia,” Mr Angel said.
“We propose guides for buying decisions and new policy for each product area.”
“Industry, the ACCC and NGOs should get together to agree on information standards,” Mr Angel said.
The reports are available on the TEC web site.