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By Dr. Brad Paulson, Thor Engineering, ICMA Standards Representative
The recent Nobel Peace Prize award to Al Gore has put responsible use of global resources once again into the public spotlight. Today, more and more customers are shifting purchases and loyalty to retailers that are moving to “green”. More importantly, as was highlighted by the presentations at the recent ICMA EXPO in San Diego, many retailers are moving aggressively to take advantage of this customer shift towards green. However, as the philosopher Kermit the Frog observed in his song of the same title, “It’s not Easy Bein’ Green”, there is an abundance of misinformation of what it means to be green, particularly in card manufacturing.
As an environmental movement, philosophically, the concept of “green” manufacturing is reasonably straightforward: protecting the environment by conserving and effectively using resources. However, in practice, it becomes difficult to determine what processes and products are more or less “green”, particularly as a consumer. Consequently, several organizations offer certification programs to evaluate companies, processes, and products, awarding Green Certifications, Green Seals, or Ecolabels. Published international standards and specifications include:
• ISO 14001 Environmental management systems - Requirements with guidance for use
• ISO 14004 Environmental management systems - General guidelines on principles, systems and supporting techniques
• ISO 14015 Environmental management - Environmental assessment of sites and organizations (EASO)
• ISO 14020 Environmental labels and declarations - General principles
• ISO 14021 Environmental labels and declarations - Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling)
• ISO 14024 Environmental labels and declarations - Type I environmental labelling - Principles and procedures
• ISO 14025 Environmental labels and declarations - Type III environmental declarations
• ISO 14031 Environmental management. Environmental performance evaluation. Guidelines
• ISO 14032 Environmental management. Examples of environmental performance evaluation (EPE)
• ISO 14040 Environmental Management - Life Cycle Assessment - Principles and Framework
• ISO 14041 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Goal and scope definition and inventory analysis
• ISO 14042 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Life cycle impact assessment
• ISO 14044 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines
• ISO 14047 Environmental management. Life cycle impact assessment. Examples of application of ISO 14042
• ISO 14048 Environmental management. Life cycle assessment. Data documentation format
• ISO 14049 Environmental management. Life cycle assessment. Examples of application of ISO 14041 to goal and scope definition and inventory analysis
• ISO 14050 Environmental management - Vocabulary
• ISO 14062 Environmental management. Integrating environmental aspects into product design and development
• ISO 14063 Environmental management. Environmental communication. Guidelines and examples
• ISO 17422 Plastics. Environmental aspects. General guidelines for their inclusion in standards
• ISO 19011 Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing
Although there are many approaches to environmental labeling, these particular International Standards relate to environmental labeling programs which award their environmental label to products that meet a set of predetermined requirements; the labels thus identify products that are determined to be environmentally preferable within particular product categories. Specifically, these standards specify requirements for environmental claims regarding products, including statements, symbols, and graphics. They also establish the principles and procedures for developing environmental labeling programs, including the selection of product categories, product environmental criteria, and product function characteristics. Also, the standards further describe selected terms commonly used in environmental claims, providing qualifications for their use. Finally, the standards describe general evaluation and verification methodology for environmental claims, and specific evaluation and verification methods for the selected claims to demonstrate compliance.
As we become more familiar with the requirements of environmental labeling, Green in particular, hopefully, we can join Kermit, who concludes his song with, “and I think it’s what I want to be.”
Brad Paulson, Ph.D., is the ICMA Official Standards Representative and concurrently serves as principal and founder of Thor Engineering, a consulting company he started in 2001 to test and evaluate media and materials to determine failure modes and recommend material and process improvements. Views expressed here are his own. Questions? Contact Brad at Tpaulson@rconnect.com. |