Thursday Thirteen Things You Should Know About Product Labels (#21)

The source of my green educational Thursday Thirteen this week is Crissy Trask’s It’s Easy Being Green.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Biodegradable: The Federal Trade Commission defines “biodegradable” as a substance that has been scientifically proven to break down entirely and return to nature within a reasonably short time after disposal. However, because most detergents and soluble chemicals degrade in wastewater systems, they don’t always completely break down into eco-friendly substances. Read the label carefully to make certain the product is made up of nontoxic, renewable ingredients.
2. Cage Free: While this label guarantees that chickens weren’t raised in cages, it doesn’t guarantee they spent any part of their lives outside.
3. Free Farmed: This label is administered by the American Humane Association and testifies that dairy cows, chickens, cattle, and hogs are raised humanely and under healthy living conditions.
4. Free Range Chicken: Legally, this label only requires that poultry producers allow their poultry access to the outdoors for an unspecified amount of time each day — ie. leave the door open. It does not guarantee that the chicken ever made it outside.
5. GMO Free: Genetically Modified Organisms or, rather, genetically modified plants are the product of scientific genetic manipulation involving introducing unnatural but supposedly “desirable” gene characteristics into plants — ie. animal traits into tomatoes. Some scientists are worried such manipulation could ruin the ecosystem and contaminate the food supply.
6. Green: This hasn’t been defined in standard manufacturing terms. Call the manufacturer and ask them what they mean by it.
7. Natural: Except where beef or chicken processing is concerned, this term is meaningless in legal terms. To qualify for beef or poultry processing, the USDA requires that there be no artificial ingredients and no food coloring.
8. Nontoxic: “Toxic” means poisonous. Chemicals that are Persistent, Bioaccumaltive, and Toxic (PBTs) do not readily break down in the environment and accumulate in the tissues of animals and humans.
9. Organic: Food and fiber grown or produced in accordance of the National Organic Standards Act without toxic pesticides and fertilizers, synthetic hormones, antibiotics, sewage sludge, GMOs, or irradiation.
10. Pesticide Free: There’s no standard definition for this. This label could mean the grower didn’t use pesticides in growing the produce or that there was no detectable pesticide residue when tested. You’d have the grower to be sure.
11. Recyclable: A recyclable material or product is one that, after its useful life, can be manufactured into another useful material or product, therby keeping it out of the waste stream.
12. Recycled Paper: If the three chasing arrows on your product are white on a black background, it means the paper is made from 100% recycled content. However,if the arrows are black on a white background, it is made up of recycled and virgin fiber and the manufacturer is required to note what percentage comes from the recycled fiber. But, wait…there’s more…you also have to consider the source of the recycled content. Paper made from wood shavings from a lumber mill, labeled industrial waste, can be labeled recycled, but buying this type does nothing to help support consumer recycling programs. Look for paper marked “PCC” or “PCW”, which stands for post-consumer content or post-consumer waste, respectively.
13. Sustainable Fishery: A sustainable fishery (a species or stock of fish) is one that has not been depleted or harvested in ways that harm the ocean ecosystem.

tags: green living, recycle, biodegradable, animal rights, organic, humane, waste, Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, memes

10 comments

1. on January 18, 2007 at 9:07 am

   colleen gleason said:

   Wonderful list, N.! I hope all is well with you.

   My TT’s up….Thirteen Albums from the 80s I have hanging on my wall.

2. on January 18, 2007 at 10:02 am

   Chickadee said:

   Ohhh, I didnt’ think about Free Range Chickens not actually getting their time outside. I try to buy organic and hormone/antibiotic free etc items in the store.

   Thanks for the heads up on that one.

   My 13 are up.

3. on January 18, 2007 at 10:08 am

   Darla said:

   Another thing about “biodegradable”–if it goes in a landfill, it doesn’t degrade AT ALL. I had a class on landfills once–it was a real eye-opener. Newspapers still readable after 20+ years, decades-old food garbage that still looked fresh.

   Interesting list. Thanks for the scoop!

4. on January 18, 2007 at 10:15 am

   Mary (mert) said:

   Very informative list, thanks for posting this.
   Happy TT!

5. on January 18, 2007 at 10:40 am

   Susan said:

   The paper info was the newest for me - thank you so much! I had no idea, and here I’m so proud of myself when I thought I was getting recycled stuff… I guess there’s always room for improvement! You’ve made lots of things much clearer for us tho! Thanks again!!

6. on January 18, 2007 at 11:19 am

   Caylynn said:

   Interesting list! Moving to Germany from Canada, I had to learn what all the various terms and symbols on products over here mean, as opposed to back in Canada. It sounds like some terms also mean different thing in the U.S. as compared to Canada.

   Happy T13.

7. on January 18, 2007 at 5:33 pm

   Sparky Duck said:

   wow, informative and scary all at once

8. on January 18, 2007 at 6:59 pm

   Caryle said:

   Wow! Thanks for the education. I have a lot of friends with health conditions that would be better served with organic diets. Unfortunately, the selection of organic foods here is awful, and prohibitively expensive. With all the meds and vitamins these friends are taking, they can’t afford to buy all organic. Sigh. Some day…

9. on January 18, 2007 at 7:45 pm

   Mrs Lifecruiser said:

   Certainly a really useful list - even though it doesn’t really fit in Sweden. We have other kinds.

   We are really green people over here normally

10. on January 19, 2007 at 3:32 pm

    Bubba said:

    Wow…thanks for the information. Sometimes labels get absolutely ridiculous. Although I thought it was going to be warning labels…maybe I’ll do that for my own TT sometime…

    Happy TT!

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