Reading the New Eco Labels

Retailers and manufacturers of non-food items are creating their own seals of approval for earth-friendly goods

by Reena Jana

Timberland products carry this label, resembling the FDA's Nutrition Facts guide. Click the thumbnail to view the full image.

Home Depot uses this icon to categorize earth-friendly products.

ABC Carpet & Home has created its own eco-labels, seen here.

The USDA's official seal for Organic food is an enduring eco-friendly label.

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In mid-April, Home Depot (HD) began rolling out "Eco Options" products and signage in its nearly 1,900 U.S. stores. Formal groups of earth-friendly products from a variety of makers are prominently displayed and promoted with icons and posters featuring a highly graphic logo, which was first tested on a smaller scale in the company's 155 Canadian stores for nearly three years before hitting the U.S.

Designed by Dallas-based Richards Group, the company's creative agency, the marque is simple and clear: An orange—Home Depot's signature hue—halo crowns geometric silhouettes of a house and a tree. Already, the label is associated with more than 2,500 products, ranging from compact fluorescent light bulbs to organic plants in biodegradable pots. Many, but not all, are verified by Scientific Certification Systems, an independent standards development and certification company.

It's all part of a new trend spinning out from the current wave of eco-chic. Perhaps taking a cue from the U.S. Agriculture Dept.'s eye-catching, consumer-friendly, official labels for organic food, increasing numbers of non-food related stores and brands are introducing official-looking symbols and signs to promote their products. Their strategy is clear: To market their eco-friendliness, and to quickly and effectively communicate how socially responsible they are.

Mimicking the FDA

Since the fall of 2006, packaging for Timberland (TBL) footwear and apparel has featured labels that resemble the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's text-only nutritional label. But instead of stating the number of servings, calories, and fat grams per package, Timberland's label lists the amount of renewable energy used to produce a product, as well as other details.

And on a smaller, more upmarket, scale, at ABC Carpet & Home, a stylish home furnishings emporium in downtown Manhattan (with a store in London), fashionable shoppers find signs and hang tags emblazoned with one or more icons designed by the retailer's in-house design team. These include, for example, a spare rendering of a drop of water, meant to signify that a table or chair is "pure," or free of toxic chemicals.

The company soft-launched the icons and tags last year, and in honor of Earth Day on Apr. 22, ABC Carpet & Home unveiled a new advertising and marketing campaign highlighting the eco-labels once again. Currently more than 25% of all of the Manhattan store's offerings bear an eco-label on their hang tags, says Amy Chendler, ABC's director of social responsibility.

Misleading Customers?

Each of these companies are looking to tap the growing numbers of socially responsible consumers. They have realized the power that the nearly five-year-old, USDA organic label wields among customers (products bearing the "organic" label represented a healthy $14.6 billion in total annual U.S. sales in 2005, the latest figures available from industry group Organic Trade Assn., up 17% from the year before). They want in—and without any governmental mandate on how best to disclose the chemical, carbon-neutral, or other characteristics that communicate earth-friendliness. Unlike manufacturers of foods that bear official labels, they're choosing to do it themselves.

But could such labeling confuse or even mislead consumers, who might believe that a product with an official-looking seal means they are purchasing a government-endorsed product? Jeffrey B. Swartz, chairman, chief executive, and director of Timberland, says that the Timberland tag isn't intended to confuse.

Instead, its familiarity is meant to more easily convey facts about Timberland. "Our label is meant as a source of information. And to be frank, it's also intended as a means to start a conversation," Swartz says, pointing out that any controversy that might arise is a risk that he and Timberland are willing to take. The idea is to get consumers talking about socially responsible, eco-friendly products.