A good ecological product should contain sustainable quality ingredients. But what do we mean by sustainable? And what are quality ingredients, exactly? Look no further. Here is an overview of what your products’ composition should be like; for your health and for the planet.
An ecological product is made of sustainable quality ingredients
But… what does “sustainable” mean exactly? A good definition would be “which can continue for a long time without harming the environment”. But as you can imagine, the manufacturing of an ecological product consists of several steps. And each of them needs to be carefully thought to have a minimal impact on our beautiful planet.
As you may already know, eco-friendly products contain both raw materials and manufactured ingredients. And they all have to be sustainable from their production to their processing. First of all, they cannot come from protected species, whether they are from vegetable or animal origin. Of course, how could we protect the planet without taking care of its inhabitants? The production is also a very important step. Therefore, all production methods must be environmentally-friendly. The agriculture must be organic, the use of OGMs is not tolerated and the animals’ welfare is essential.
Harvesting and extracting ingredients are the logical following steps to take, but not the least. Of course, the harvesting and extracting methods mustn’t harm the environment. When exploiting minerals, companies must leave the landscapes undamaged. And the same goes for harvesting vegetable products: the least pollution, the better. And then comes the processing step. Here again, there is no question about polluting our environment when transforming ingredients into great eco-friendly products. Companies must respect the natural properties and active substances of all ingredients they use. And of course, they have to be really careful about their waste management, transportation and energy consumption; keeping them to a minimum.
The final result should be a safe ecological product
It goes without saying that your ecological product should be completely safe: for you as well as for the environment. For example, Ecogarantie’s standards completely prohibit petrochemicals, Volatile Organic Components (VOC) and the use of halogen chemistry. We make sure, thanks to independent certifying bodies we work with, that our members only use the ingredients we consider safe and healthy. The final product must also have a good level of biodegradability.
How can you verify all this?
There’s no secret. If you want to have information about a product, do some research. The best piece of advice we can offer you is to trust ecolabels. They ensure that the products are controlled by control bodies and that the brands are not misleading you. Don’t hesitate to look for the appointed certifying body of your product and to check whether it is independent or not. It can indeed play a role in the transparency of the brand. Finally, ask to have a look at the labels’ standards to see if they match your own values. Because the best person you can listen to when it comes to making responsible choices, is yourself.
