What’s Really “Green” Anymore?

We know, we know, we talk about certifications a lot. And maybe we get a little braggy about all the certifications our products carry. But it’s becoming very relevant in recent months to revisit the topic and what it means for brand loyalty and keeping consumer interest.

A study from April 2023 showed that 57% of Canadian consumers do not believe the sustainable claims they’re hearing from brands. This makes sense given that words like “green”, “environmentally friendly”, and “biodegradable” are being used more as marketing tactics than as accurate descriptors of products. For this reason, it’s important to watch out for claims that don’t have any kind of evidence or science to back them up. When it comes to biodegradable and compostable materials specifically, there are certifications available for this exact purpose. Without these, a brand’s sustainability claims may not be as trustworthy as you’d hope.

So what are you supposed to be looking for here? The first thing to understand is that some seals show the standard that the material was tested against while some show the third-party certification body that did the testing. Confused already? Let’s look at an example.

ASTM D6400 is a “Standard Specification for Labeling of Plastics Designed to be Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial Facilities”, meaning that it sets out the rules for what your compostable “plastic” has to do in order to be labeled as compostable in these particular facilities. For ASTM D6400, one of these rules is as follows: “A plastic product is considered to have demonstrated satisfactory disintegration if after twelve weeks (84 days) in a controlled composting test, no more than 10 % of its original dry weight remains after sieving on a 2.0-mm sieve.” Boring, we know. But that makes sense right? If you put the product into composting conditions for 84 days and then put what’s left through a 2mm sieve, only 10% of the original weight can be left behind in order for it to pass the test. Those specifics are kind of a secret by the way, you usually have to spend money to get that info, so keep it to yourself. There are more rules regarding things like carbon dioxide conversion, testing standards, and organic constituents, but that’s the meat and potatoes of this standard.

Now, if we’re looking at something like BPI (maybe you’ve heard of that one, it’s the most popular in North America), we’re talking about a third-party certification body. BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute) happens to test against the ASTM D6400 standard that we were just talking about. So if a product is BPI certified compostable, it means that BPI tested the product and found that it complied with ASTM D6400 standards. Make sense? So if a product displays the ASTM logo on its own, it doesn’t really mean a whole lot. It means that the company is claiming that their product passes ASTM D6400 standards. However, if it has the BPI logo, it means that a completely neutral third party (BPI) has tested it and agrees that the product passes ASTM D6400 standards.

Some other cool certifications that our products have include OK Compost HOME (this one certifies a product can be composted under backyard composting conditions), ABA (an Australian testing body kind of like BPI), and Seedling. We get more into each of these standards on our website so feel free to check that out if you’re interested (nerd).

Now if you’re a consumer, you probably get why these things are important. I mean, why are you bothering to buy the environmentally friendly merchandise if it isn’t really even good for the environment in the first place? Certifications like these help ensure that doesn’t happen. But retailers and brands may be wondering if it’s really worth the effort to go through the whole process of submitting your product for testing and modifying your formula to make sure you can pass all the tests just to put a little stamp on the box. Well, let us throw some numbers at you to see if we can convince you.

According to a recent Deloitte study, third party certification seals appeal to 49% of consumers; and when you make them global standards, that number jumps up to 55%. This means that customers want to see the proof. We mentioned earlier that consumers already don’t trust brands’ claims, so here’s an easy way to get at least half of them on your side. Once customers believe the green claims, 75% say they are more likely to buy a product if it is sustainable compared to one that isn’t. Not only that, but 62% of Canadians stated that they would even be willing to pay an extra 20% or more if it meant they were investing in sustainable products. 20% is a lot, so props to us, Canadians.

So there you have it – now you know what the certifications are for, why they’re important, and why it actually helps brands to have them. Now that that’s out of the way, you just have to figure out what happened to Amelia Earhart and how the hell they built the pyramids, and all of Earth’s mysteries will finally be solved.