Green Cross gives seal to 50 recycled products

Green Cross Gives Seal To 50 Recycled Products

OAKLAND, Calif. - A move to let independent third parties verify environmental claims about products got off the ground with the annoucement that Green Cross has certified that 50 products can make valid claims about recycled content.

At least for those 50 items, consumers no longer have to rely solely on the word of manufacturers that such and such a product is kinder and gentler to the environment.

Green Cross, a new, non-profit arm of Scientific Certification Systems, a pesticides testing lab based in Oakland, has given environmental seals of approval to: * Renew trash bags from Webster Industries, Peabody, Mass., certified as made of 80% recycled plastic; * Today's Choice line of paper towels, napkins, facial and toilet tissues from Confab, Irvine, Calif., made of 100% recycled fiber; * Fire-to-Go fire logs from Green Fields, Hillsboro, Ore., made of 100% recycled hardwood sawdust and shavings; * Various brands of paper towels, napkins, facial and toilet tissues from Pope & Talbot, Portland, Ore., also made of 100% recycled fiber; * Various brands of paper towels, napkins, and facial and toilet tissues from Orchid Paper Products, LaPalma, Calif., made of 100% recycled fiber; * Paper grocery sacks from Willamette Industries, Portland, Ore., made of 40% recycled fibers.

Each manufacturer paid Green Cross $1,000 to $10,000 to cover its costs in certifying environmental claims they wish to use. Green Fields, a tiny startup company in the fire log business, paid $1,500, for example, said owner Anita Van Grunsven.

For that fee, they may stamp the Green Cross certification on their packages, said spokeswoman Linda Brown.

Green Cross now uses the term certification, rather than seal of approval, as first intended, Brown said. The package certificate states precisely what environmental claims Green Cross attests to and bears the Green Cross logo.

In another of three categories of certifications to be announced Sept. 19, Green Cross will disclose certification about the recycled content of glass jars and bottles from five vendors, Brown said. She declined to name the vendors.

Other environmental certificates will attest to the biodegradability of soaps and detergents as well as the energy efficiency of light bulbs. In about two months, Green Cross expects to certify products that can prove they are made of a sustainable level of renewable resources.

Green Cross can be easily confused with Green Seal, a competing, Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that intends to develop its own program of verifying environmental claims. Green Seal expects to issue its first seals next spring.

Green Cross is closely identified with Fred Meyer, Portland, Ore., which long has used the services of its parent firm to test for pesticides in the produce its 76 combo food and general merchandise stores carry.

Any retailer can apply to use Green Cross certification, she said. Green Cross is negotiating with "a couple of other non-Western regional discount chains," Brown said, but she refused to name them.

In addition to the Green Field fire logs, Fred Meyer also carries Renew trash bags and Today's Choice line of paper products, spokesman Rob Boley said.

Back in January, Fred Meyer launched its own Earth Friendly program of certifying environmentally sound products, based on manufacturers' claims and whatever expertise it had in-house, Boley said. But the chain scrapped its own program in favor of independent certification, Boley said.

"We had to rely on what manufacturers told us and what our internal review team could determine," said Boley. "It's virtually impossible to operate that way and be credible, because there's no scientific foundation."

As an independent third party, Green Cross provides that scientific foundation, Boley said. "It separates the credible from the incredible environmental claims."

Fred Meyer independently hired Green Cross to verify the recycled content of paper packaging. Between certifications about packaging and those for products, Fred Meyer has put out shelf talkers that promote the environmental edge that 48 products hold.

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