06 Jul Buzz words explained…

BUZZ WORDS

Marketing is designed to capture your attention and enthral you within seconds to believe in a product enough to make a purchase. Advertising on television has a few minutes to inspire you and billboards as long as the flow of traffic allows (!) However with these adverts now intertwined through social media feeds it’s a matter of seconds, if that, before you scroll straight passed a product that hasn’t immediately attracted you. Alongside targeted marketing, buzz words are used or short and snappy slogans that take a moment to read at glance, hoping to strike a chord with your values and get you to pause your scroll and read on.
Have you ever spent a few minutes researching what these words mean? In this fast world of convenience to support an ever-busy lifestyle, do we really know what we’re buying into or are we simply led by trust?
Here’s a guide to a few buzz words when it comes to buying green:

CARBON NEUTRAL
Most industry processes produce carbon dioxide emissions. To be carbon neutral the business doesn’t simply stop releasing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases (including methane, and nitrogen oxides) into the atmosphere. In order to work in a more environmentally friendly manner the company has the opportunity to purchase carbon offsets, or more simply put give money to environmental projects. One of the most common supports renewable energy, for example wind farms or forest plantation to absorb CO2. The volume of offset correlates to the volume of emissions until the scale is balanced and therefore neutral.
The EU began the first and largest greenhouse gas emission trading scheme in the world, the European Union Emissions Trading System. It is estimated that over an eight year period the EU Emissions Trading System reduced CO2 emissions by 1 billion tonnes (3.8%) across the EU.
Globally countries are encouraged to sign up to the Paris Agreement, dedicating resources to support the reduction of climate change.

CARBON NEGATIVE
Think the same as carbon neutral but take the process a step further. To be carbon negative the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere must be greater than that produced.

CARBON FOOTPRINT
Your carbon footprint is simply how much carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases such as methane) are produced and released in the atmosphere as a direct consequence of your everyday life. Think travel, heating, the electricity that you use and even the food that you eat. Small changes and different choices that will quickly become habit can all have an impact on your carbon footprint, reducing your impact on climate change.
Carbon neutrality or negativity are mainly associated with companies, governments and countries whereas a carbon footprint can be your personal contribution to reducing climate change. The target for each personal footprint in 2010 was 5 tonnes with targets in 2050 reducing to 1.3 tonnes. These targets are based on climate change remaining within a 2 degree increase over the same time period.
Why not take a moment to calculate your carbon footprint and see what simple changes you could make?
Carbon Calculator – ClimateHero

FAIRTRADE
When a product is certified as Fairtrade it means that it has been produced and supplied using ethical means that have met the standards of the Fairtrade Foundation. These standards put simply ensure that farmers and workers have a safe working environment and are paid fairly.
The Fairtrade Mark is a registered certification label that must be applied for before used to label any product. There is now also a Fairtrade Sourced Ingredients Mark which allows businesses to show when they have sourced a specific ingredient of a product through Fairtrade means.

COMMUNITY TRADE
Founded and run by The Body Shop, Community Trade is a Fairtrade programme relating specifically to cosmetics and it currently boasts over 20 ingredients. Think social impact as well as environmental impact, these ingredients are sourced, harvested and processed by local communities often by traditional methods.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC
Organic certification is provided by the Soil Association and when applied to food it means that all the processes involved in producing the final product have been certified to follow a set of legal requirements. These requirements include avoiding the use of synthetic materials from growth through to harvest and also cover manufacturing, importing, storage and packaging.

VEGAN
Living a vegan lifestyle means that you choose to remove all animal products from all aspects of your life to reduce cruelty and exploitation of animals. A vegan will exclude not only meat from their diet but also products and ingredients derived from animals such as eggs, cheese and all things dairy.
Veganism doesn’t stop there. To be truly vegan it’s not just products that you eat that should not be derived from animals. Think all aspects of consumerism such has cosmetics, clothing and sift furnishings to name but a few.

CRUELTY FREE
The largest and probably most recognised logo that assures a cruelty free product is the Leaping Bunny Logo of Cruelty Free International. The Leaping Bunny programme has a global reach and approves brands that produce cosmetics and household cleaning products. Cruelty International state that this logo is the best consumer assurance that a product lives up to the “global gold standard for cruelty free.”
To be approved a brand must set a fixed cut-off date. This is “an immovable date after which neither the brand nor any of its suppliers and manufacturers may conduct, commission or be party to animal tests for raw materials or ingredients. This applies for their entire supply chain down to ingredient manufacturer.”
Leaping Bunny FAQs | Cruelty Free International
Cruelty Free International will always make you, the consumer, aware of any Leaping Bunny approved brands that have been bought by larger parent companies who do not yet have approval so that you can make the most informed choice possible.

NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS
PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also approve brands that do not test their products, ingredients and raw materials. A legally binding statement is required before PETA will include the brand on their Global Test-Free List.
If you are in any doubt regarding a logo displayed on the packaging of a product there are resources and lists readily available so that you can be assured your choice meets your ethical standards.

SUSTAINABLE
Sustainability simply means having little or no impact on the environment and maintaining this level of commitment throughout the process and over a long period of time. Take sustainable ingredients as an example: an ingredient is sustainable if the impact on global warming is limited and ecosystems are protected. It may also consider the working conditions used throughout the process from production, farming and transportation.

BIODEGRADABLE
If a product is biodegradable it will be naturally decomposed over a period of time by living organisms such as bacteria without causing harm to the environment. As a product biodegrades it is broken down into it’s basic components, which could include carbon dioxide or water which blend back into the earth or atmosphere. Ideally this process is quick and will reduce the need for landfill. Some materials will biodegrade more slowly, for example rusting metals.
Biodegradable packaging will also breakdown naturally, the key here is to be aware of the length of time taken by this process. If packaging is sent to landfill it will emit greenhouse gases as it breaksdown.

COMPOSTABLE
Compost is a nutrient rich soil or fertiliser created by decomposing compostable products such as vegetable scraps and coffee grounds under specific conditions. Compostable conditions include a balance of optimum temperature, humidity and aeration. In this environment these products will biodegrade quickly over a few months. The nutrient rich fertiliser that is produced can then be used to enrich soil in your garden and so be put back into the earth.
Compostable packaging cannot easily be composted at home in your common compost bin. The process must be closely controlled to maintain optimum conditions and will take a much longer period of time.

DEGRADABLE
A plastic that is labelled as degradable will, over time, breakdown into ever smaller particles of plastic. Some believe that this is more environmentally friendly as these particles pose a lesser threat to wildlife than a larger piece of plastic. Classification of degradable plastic isn’t yet widespread and the length of time that it takes for this plastic to reduce is only estimated. There are potential issues with these plastics, one being that they can contaminate otherwise recyclable plastic. Another is that these tiny particles of plastic will eventually enter the food chain of which we know little of the impact.

ECO FRIENDLY
This term is widely used to imply that a business, brand or process adopts methods that promote or minimise a negative impact on the environment. This term can be ambiguous because by definition it simply means a reduction in harm to the environment and this reduction has no measure. The use of eco friendly can therefore imply a greener outcome than is actually achieved.