A Label Creates a Thousand Questions

One of the elements to making green choices is taking more then product performance and price into consideration when making a purchase. In attempt to make it easier on the average consumer various organizations and associations have added a visual label to packaging to better identify which cans of tuna are dolphin friendly, which appliances are energy efficient etc.

However, in this effort to simplify and clarify, things get awfully complicated and confusing!

In attempt to better educate myself about all the symbols on the packaging, I stumbled upon the Eco-Labels Virtual Kitchen site. This resource has been put together by Consumer Union, the same not for profit organization that publishes Consumer Reports.

Apart from being a rather fun diversion, this resource is a good starting point for better understanding the different labels associated with different food products and appliances, thereby hopefully enabling you to make more informed decisions next time you are making a purchase.

Unfortunately, it is a US based site and so far I have been unable to find a Canadian equivilant. As a result, those of us north of the 49th parallel will have to put on our information filters to identify what information is applicable.