Ecolabels: One world, but not one word
March 17, 2008
There are lots of eco-labels for different purposes, and lots of words to name them.
Perhaps as more people write about ecological issues, the tags will help link more articles together.
This list is based on ecolabel in the GEMET Thesaurus(Eionet) and ecolabel on OmegaWiki, with additions as I discover them. Eionet is the European Environment Information and Observation Network. GEMET is their GEneral Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus.
“ecolabel” | ||
Български | Bulgarian | еко-етикет |
Čeština | Czech | značka ekologická |
Dansk | Danish | miljømærke |
Deutsch | German | Ökomark, Umweltzeichen |
Ελληνικά | Greek | οικολογικό σήμα |
English | English | ecolabel |
Español | Spanish (Castillian) | etiqueta ecolígica |
Eesti keel | Estonian | ökomärgis, keskkonnamärgis |
Euskara | Basque | ekoetiketa; etiketa ekologiko |
Français | French | écolabel |
Magyar | Hungarian | ökocímke |
Italiano | Italian | marchio di qualità ecologica |
Nederlands | Dutch | milieukeur(merk) |
Norsk | Norwegian (Bokmål) | miljømerke |
Polski | Polish | ekoetykieta |
Português | Portuguese | rótulo ecológico |
Русский | Russian | экоэтикетка |
Slovenčina | Slovakian | ekologická značka |
Slovenščina | Slovenian | ekonalepka |
Suomi | Finnish | ympäristömerkki |
Svenska | Swedish | miljömärke |
I am making the information in the Table available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
If you know of any more translations, comment please!
This entry is part of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.
Green Coast Award – enhancing unspoilt rural beaches
March 12, 2008
The Green Coast Award is for beaches in Wales and Ireland which meet EC bathing water quality standards and provide a natural, unspoilt environment, meaning that “the special character of such a beach may not be compatible with the level of infrastructure and intensive management generally associated with more urban, traditional seaside resort beaches”.
The Green Coast Award fills a gap left by the Blue Flag Programme. Like the Blue Flag, the Green Coast Award has clear objectives and community involvement in coastal management.
The original recycling symbol
March 10, 2008
The original recycling symbol was designed by Gary Anderson. He won a contest in 1970 – the year of the first Earth Day – at the International Design Conference in Aspen, Colorado out of over 500 entries. Gary’s original design had the triangle pointing downwards.
The internationally recognisable recycling symbol design of three chasing arrows is sometimes called a Mobius loop, based on August Ferdinand Möbius‘ – a 19th century German mathematician – discovery that a band of paper joined with a half twist forms a continuous single-edged, one-sided surface.
Blue Flag flies standard for beaches, marinas and boats
February 25, 2008
The Blue Flag is an eco-label awarded to thousands of beaches and marinas across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, New Zealand, Canada and the Caribbean.
The Blue Flag works towards sustainable development at beaches/marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services. The Programme includes environmental education and information for the public, decision makers and tourism operators. For boats there is a code of conduct.
Nordic Ecolabel Swan: Scandinavian co-operation
January 30, 2008
The Swan is the official Nordic ecolabel, and it “demonstrates that a product is a good environmental choice”. In 1989, the Nordic Council of Ministers decided to introduce a common, impartial, official environmental label for the Nordic region.
So, five for the price of one – very economic! The (green) Swan is a variation on the (blue Swan) logo of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The activities within Nordic Ecolabelling are coordinated by the Nordic Ecolabelling Board.
The Blauer Engel (Blue Angel) is the first environment-related label for products and services in the world. It was created in 1977, and the first awards made in 1978. |
The EU Eco-label: flowering across Europe
December 3, 2007
The European Union Eco-label or Flower is
a voluntary scheme designed to encourage businesses to market products and services that are kinder to the environment and for European consumers – including public and private purchasers – to easily identify them.
I don’t recall ever seeing the Eco-label. Just how far has it spread?
Green Dot: When a recycle symbol doesn’t mean recyclable
November 6, 2007
A few weeks ago I told a friend that this symbol does not mean you can put the packaging in for recycling. (Right.) I thought it meant the packaging is made of recycled material. (Wrong.)
Turns out the “Green Dot” is used on packaging in some European countries to show that the manufacturer has paid a fee to a national packaging recovery company.
So it does NOT have anything to do with the packaging at all!