Published on: November 16, 2011
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Consumer Reports said yesterday that it has released a new application in the iTunes Store called “Eco-Label,” which provides detailed information about products’ environmental claims.
According to the announcement, “The Eco-Label App is a new mobile version of Consumer Reports' Greenerchoices.org,” which assesses labels such as “organic,” “natural,” and “hypoallergenic.”
“The Eco-Label App lets you search for information by alphabetical label index or by product including foods, cleaners, and personal care products,”
Consumer Reports writes. “It also offers a label ‘report card,’ which provides clear guidance on which labels make truthful and meaningful claims, and which do not.” The magazine notes that “the best labels are meaningful, verified, consistent, transparent, and independent. They are those that have been developed with broad public and industry input.”
The app costs 99 cents.
• A company called Grail Research is out with a new survey called “The Green Revolution” that says “consumers who previously purchased green products have decreased their green purchasing as a result of the recession. Specifically, 43 percent of ‘light green’ consumers – those who buy some green products – reduced their usage of green products or switched to conventional ones. At the same time, the percentage of non-green consumers rose from 15 percent to 22 percent.”
The survey goes on to say that “the number of light green consumers, those who purchase some green products, decreased from 76 percent to 60 percent of the population,” that “the percentage of former green consumers rose from only one percent in the previous survey to 10 percent of consumers,” and that “among green consumers, 43 percent cited the economic recession as the reason for not purchasing green products in specific categories – the top reason given.”