Ecolabel Guide Mobile App
Ecolabel Guide app is developed to help consumers make sustainable choice of products based on the information that stands behind the label and to distinguish ecolabels from other labels.
Every time we go shopping, we can see that many food and non-food products are claimed to be “green”, ‘eco-friendly” or “organic”, and have labels that look very much like ecolabels. However, often there is no evidence of better environmental performance of such products. The expanding usage of unverified green claims with no substantial evidence got the name of “greenwashing”. To deal with this problem, common rules on environmental certification have been developing in the world for the last 20 years, such as the ISO 14020 series or international organic regulations. In the Ecolabel Guide app, we have put the world practice of environmental certification in different fields into a simple tool, which will empower consumers to choose sustainable products and be aware of “greenwashing”. The classification of the labels in the app is based on the Guide to Environmental Labels for Procurement Practitioners of the United Nations System, UNOPS, 2009. The app comprises database of the most popular “eco”, “organic” and other environmental and social labels one can find on the products all around the globe. The scanner allows to take a picture of the label on the product’s package and find out if it is a trustful label and what it tells about the product.
Ecolabel Guide is developed as a part of the project “Greener retail and IT for sustainable consumption” co-funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The app is available in AppStore and Google Play - type "Ecolabel Guide" in the search. forthcoming
