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How .eco supports sustainability standards

Posted 10 May 2017 by Jacob Malthouse to Collaboration | No Comments |

Registering a .eco web address sends a powerful message to consumers about their environmental responsibility and transparency.

To activate a .eco domain, users must pledge to support positive change for the planet and list their commitments to environmental action on a public-facing .eco profile.

This is where it gets interesting, especially for the ecolabel community. The .eco profile system is designed as a simple on-ramp to sustainable action. It starts with the Sustainable Development Goals and a pledge of commitment to sustainability. Once activated, .eco is a resource carefully designed to share knowledge and good practice.

Over 60% of .eco members that have purchased .eco domains in the past two weeks since launch are small businesses. Over time, the goal is to help these groups understand how and what ecolabels are credible and useful to their work. Using the.eco system, .eco web address owners can indicate what certifications they currently have, or what ones they are interested in becoming certified for.

This includes companies that act as platforms. Sandra Capponi, co-founder of GoodOnYou.eco, an ethical fashion app that helps users find the ethical rating of clothing brands, remarked on the differentiation gained with a .eco domain, stating it “immediately demonstrates our commitment to environmental sustainability.”

It is also possible for ecolabels themselves to take advantage of the excellent availability – and credibility – that a new web ending like .eco offers. For example, Green Seal is already using www.greenseal.eco and has built an excellent .eco profile.

The .eco team is interested to partner and align with credible ecolabels who want to market their work to .eco members, and vice versa.  Please feel free to contact us directly if you are interested to start a conversation, or check out www.get.eco now and search for available .eco addresses!

What’s Next for Ecolabel Index?

Posted 28 October 2016 by Jacob Malthouse to Collaboration | No Comments |

We started Ecolabel Index in 2007 with a simple goal to understand who’s deciding what’s green. A typical consumer might view any logo that makes an eco-claim as an ecolabel. We thought it would be useful to know who and what was behind these logos.

Things like governance, transparency, focus, and impact were all important to us. It has been a great experience learning about and working with the many passionate people who try to help consumers make more eco-friendly choices.

Our hope is that Ecolabel Index has lifted up those who are doing good work and driven us all to think more clearly about the power, potential and risk of ecolabels.

The .Eco Opportunity

Our work on Ecolabel Index also had a deeper purpose. We wanted to understand how the .eco top-level domain could support all this great work. It took a longer than we thought to fundraise, apply for, and win .eco in partnership with the global environmental community.

But now, we are pleased to say, .eco exists and it’s launching next year. You can already apply for generic .eco domains if you are a non-profit with an environmental mission through our grants program.

Who will use www.fish.eco? How can we imagine www.forestry.eco being used by our community? Because .eco is community run we have the chance to do something different and amazing with the Internet’s domain name system.

We hope you will join us and put your creative energy to work by applying for a domain grant before December 16th.

What’s Next for Ecolabel Index? 

While we focus on .eco as an opportunity and lasting legacy, we have also been talking about what’s next for Ecolabel Index.

We have experimented with a subscription service and with running ads on the site as ways of covering overhead. How, why and what data we collect has also changed over time.

On the technical side, we have developed a unique indicator system and our data is accessible via an API. A glossary has helped us define an ontology for the site. Since we launched, new platforms have also emerged that also communicate similar and different information.

We’ve put together a short survey that will help us understand what you’d like to see Ecolabel Index become. Please take a moment to share your thoughts.

Thanks for continuing this journey with us.

ANSI Seeks Technical Assessors for Ecolabel Accreditation Pilot

Posted 3 June 2013 by Jacob Malthouse to Ecolabel News | No Comments |

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is now seeking technical assessors to participate in a June training session for a pilot project on accrediting ecolabeling certification programs. Details are below. Prospective candidates are encouraged to contact ANSI directly as soon as possible.

Technical Assessors, ANSI accreditation program

Immediate Supervisor: Director, Accreditation Services
Office Location: Offsite, reporting to ANSI Headquarters in Washington, DC
Type: Contract

Position Summary

ANSI is recruiting contract Quality Professionals that have experience with the process and technical aspects of evaluating the competence of eco-labeling schemes and certification bodies.Successful assessor candidates will be familiar with ISO/IEC Guide 65 requirements for product certification. Assessors should also be knowledgeable in management systems (e.g., ISO 9000) and/or environmental label and declaration standards (e.g. ISO 14020, 14024, and 14025).

Knowledge and Experience

  • An understanding of the governance of environmental eco-labeling and declaration certification bodies and development of environmental eco-labeling and declaration certification schemes.
  • Knowledge of and experience in the field of environment-related standards development, certification processes, environmental product information, and implications for public policy and purchasing strategy.
  • Ability to attend a June Training Program at ANSI Headquarters in Washington, DC
  • Not currently employed by an environmental label and/or declaration certification body.
  • A Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline, and at least 6 years of professional experience are required.
  • Significant travel is involved.
  • Remuneration is fee based.

About ANSI

ANSI is a private, non-profit organization (501(c)3) that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. The Institute’s mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.

ANSI is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. ANSI does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, disability, national origin, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship or authorized alien status, or veteran status.

To Apply

Qualified and interested professionals are encouraged to submit a CV to the ANSI Director of Accreditation Services, Katie Calder, at: kcalder@ansi.org

ANSI Washington, DC Headquarters
1899 L Street, NW 11th Floor, Washington, DC, 20036
Tel: 202.293.8020

Sustainable Food Summit Kicks off in San Francisco

Posted 22 January 2013 by Jacob Malthouse to Opinion | No Comments |

Organic Monitor’s third Sustainable Food Summit kicks off today in San Francisco, with ecolabel proliferation set to be a key topic of discussion.

Organic Monitor will present the results of a research project it announced on January 8 with a press release explaining that the mushrooming number of eco-labels could have adverse implications for the over $75 billion eco-labeled food and drink marke.

According to Organic Monitor the lack of harmonisation is leading to multiple certifications and logos. The old chestnut of the ‘one ecolabel to rule them all’ also makes a showing.

Industry buzz we are hearing is that ecolabels are working together more and more, with an emphasis on preserving identity and specialization while collaborating on common infrastructure. This network of networks approach certainly works well in the online world – it will be interesting to see if eco-labels, many of which pre-date the web, adopt this ‘network-based’ approach to scaling up.

 

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