eco-symbols update 2

I’ve been in touch with the Green Achiever Scheme about concerns I raised in an earlier entry. The conversation with them gives some good answers, and then some more.

Jyotsna Kotian of Alok Industries Limited, an Indian textile company , commented on my EU Eco-labelarticle asking for some guidance on how to apply. Although I can’t give legal advice, at least I can point them in the right direction. Alok’s Environment, Health and Safety Policy commitments are straightforward and significant. Good Luck to them.

That lead to me correcting a big mistake (that I made) in that article, The EU Eco-label: flowering across Europe.

Two more sites for Recycling Symbols for Print and Web Designers.

Another Finnish site for the Nordic Ecolabel Swan: Scandinavian co-operation.

Edits to the tags to make them more consistent and to connect articles together, particularly Agenda 21. This led in turn to adding more content to Eco-Schools, to reflect its importance as a programmme fitting into Local Agenda 21.

This entry updates parts of the Infomancy Eco-Symbols Series.

Ecolabels: One world, but not one word

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.

The original recycling symbol

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.

Agenda 21 – Sustainable development for the 21st century

Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.

Agenda 21 and eco-labels have a strong connection. Implementing eco-label schemes is one direct way that communities and organisations can contribute to Agenda 21. Although implementation of Agenda 21 is essentially voluntary at country level, some national and regional governments have passed laws or given advice that local authorities implement the plan locally, in programmes which have come to be known as Local Agenda 21 (or LA21).

As residents, consumers or tax payers, we can ask organisations and local authorities what they are doing towards Agenda 21.

Green Achiever – Silver in sight

The Green Achiever Scheme attracted my attention enough to contact them. Mandy Stokes, Director of E4environment Ltd which runs the Scheme, provided some answers to my initial questions, and has now provided more, increasingly overcoming my initial cynicism.

Green Achiever Scheme: some concerns registered and answered

Previously I expressed concerns about the Green Achiever Scheme and the requirements to reach its first level, “Registered”. So I wrote to the Green Achiever Scheme to put my questions.

Mandy Stoker, Director of E4environment Ltd, replied promptly. Firstly she gave a useful clarification of what the whole Scheme is about, and then answered some of my specific concerns.

Nordic Ecolabel Swan: Scandinavian co-operation

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.

One with the Earth: An idea on time

Last week I wrote about Dan Poresky’s One with the Earth symbol, which he created for use as a universal environmental symbol.

I wrote to Dan asking for his comments, particularly as I’d raised issues in a public forum. He replied in detail. So I’m pleased to publish his response and comment on how far it met my concerns.

Qualidade Ambiental: Brazil’s ecologically watchful hummingbird

The Brazilian environmental quality certification scheme, Certificado do Rótulo Ecológico ABNT – Qualidade Ambiental, took wing in 1993 as a joint programme by the Brazilian Association for Technical Standards (Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas – ABNT) and the Brazilian Government. This scheme uses a life-cycle analysis.

One with the Earth: a grassroots environmental symbol

One with the Earth is a symbol intended for anyone to show any kind of environmentally-friendly activity or support, a “universal symbol for environmental awareness”.

It’s quite the opposite of the last symbol I wrote about: Recycle, a graphic design for a commercial advertising campaign for a second-hand bookshop, a particular form of recycling.

Will it work?