Carbonfund.org has launched a CarbonFree Certified Product label that companies can use to promote their products as being climate neutral.
Launch partners include Yakima, EcoFuture, Tropical Trading Partners and Monarch Beverage. The program consists of four steps: having a life-cycle analysis of the product; registering the product; offsetting the emissions quarterly based on actual unit sales of each certified product with Carbonfund.org; and annually reviewing the product’s footprint and reporting on measures the company has taken to reduce the climate impact of producing the product.
“Yakima is proud to be a launch partner with Carbonfund.org for their certified CarbonFree product program” said Mike Steck, Senior Director of Marketing. “We believe consumers share our desires to reduce the impacts of global warming. Our partnership gives consumers an opportunity to purchase products that support this vision.”
Carbon Trust rolled out a carbon label program in March and the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has joined forces with the company to take the first step towards introducing carbon labelling for all products sold in shops.
Climate Counts recently released a carbon scorecard for shoppers and some retailers and manufacturers have started their own programs.
A number of other carbon label programs are in the works or already exist from various organizations, including third-party environmental certifications – aimed at specific areas. The Marine Stewardship Council covers seafood; VeriFlora certifies flowers; and Green Seal puts its stamp on government and corporate buying.