Written by Lindsey Norris
Standing up for the planet doesn’t necessarily entail waving a protest sign. You can buy green products and let the market affect change for you. But finding said merch can be tough, and certified green status can come from anywhere – governments, non-profits, even industry-sponsored organizations. A 2007 study by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing (which administers Environment Canada’s EcoLogo program) found that 99.9 per cent of green products make misleading claims. Less than one per cent actually lied. They just… fudged. Bottom line: If labels and claims aren’t certified by an independent third party or are vague (“chemical-free,” for instance, or “natural”), don’t trust ’em. After all, water is a chemical, and arsenic is natural – but that doesn’t mean you want it in your shaving cream._Lindsey Norris
The CFIA doesn’t define “free range,” though it does stipulate that free-range animals be allowed unlimited access to the outdoors with a population density equivalent to the natural world. All packages with this label must include an email address or phone number so that consumers can contact the operation for more information. Also, these operations must submit a written protocol to the CFIA and be audited by a third party. South of the border, free range is a free-for-all: poultry from the U.S. must have had daily access to the outdoors – for a whopping five minutes under Department of Agriculture standards. And eggs, beef and pork aren’t regulated at all.
Come December, organic products must be certified under the new Canada Organic program before crossing any provincial or national borders. The regulations include using natural fertilizers and raising animals in conditions that “mimic nature as much as possible.” Whatever that means.
The Fair Trade label is popping up on a growing number of products, including coffee, tea, chocolate, tropical fruit, flowers, vanilla and sugar. Certification and inspections are carried out by an independent international certification company, so when you see it, you can be sure that farmers received a fair price for their product and that its production meets specific economic, social and environmental criteria.
That cologne you’re wearing? It may have been tested on animals. And it doesn’t matter if the label says “not tested on animals,” “cruelty free” or “against animal testing.” Some unlucky bunny may still have been doused, injected or force fed it. All the company had to do was hire someone else to do the dousing, or test only the ingredients, not the finished product. The current gold standard of cruelty-free labels is the leaping bunny, created by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). While all companies certified through CCIC’s leaping bunny program must follow a strict no animal testing standard, companies that want to use the logo pay between $500 to $4,500 (depending on product sales) to fund independent audits. You’ll find it on products from L’Occitane and The Body Shop. (See leapingbunny.org for more info.)
For years, manufacturers didn’t even have to fudge the truth to get away with this whopper. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) required that only 51 per cent of production costs be incurred in Canada, and that the last major transformation of the food was in this country. Spanish olives packed in Canadian brine fit the criteria; so did a bag of frozen vegetables that contained peas from China and carrots from Canada. In May, however, the feds announced new rules: “virtually all” contents will have to be Canadian to make the claim, PM Harper said, and imported ingredients will have to be identified on the label. Stay tuned for implementation.
There are more than three dozen organic certification bodies in Canada. Ecocert Canada, a private, Quebec-based organic certification organization, does unannounced site visits in addition to the mandatory inspections. You may find it on products from apples to cosmetics. So what makes Ecocert different from any of the others? We’re not really sure. U
issue 6
Category: Know-How, Personal Best
