7 Sustainable And Ethical Certifications To Look Out For When Shopping

Christmas is a time for happiness, family and sharing gifts with your loved ones but with all of this comes an excess waste of paper, materials and many other negative impacts to the environment. 

To help reduce this impact we have collated a list of certifications that you should look out for when buying your gifts. As greenwashing is becoming too common amongst brands, you - the customers can look out for specific certifications to prove that their products are genuinely less harmful or even beneficial to the environment. 

Certified B Corporation

To become a certified B Corp, brands must meet the highest verified, social, and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.

GOTS / The Global Organic Textile Standard 

Global Organic Textile Standard or GOTS certification ensures organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw materials, through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing up to labeling in order to provide a credible assurance to the end consumer

Climate Neutral

Climate Neutral's mission is simple: to help brands and companies measure, offset, and reduce their carbon emissions. By getting certified, companies and brands helo to drive millions of dollars into climate change solutions, ultimately decreasing global carbon emissions.

STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEXÒ

If a textile article carries the STANDARD 100 label, you can be certain that every component of this article, i.e. every thread, button and other accessories, has been tested for harmful substances and that the article therefore is harmless for human health.

Rainforest Alliance Certified

The Rainforest Alliance Certification means that the certified ingredient was produced using methods that support the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental.

FSC / Forest Stewardship Council 

The Forest Stewardship Council® is an independent member-led nonprofit working with wood, paper, and other forest products. The FSC Certification ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.

Leaping Bunny

The Leaping Bunny Logo is the only internationally recognized symbol guaranteeing consumers that no new animal tests were used in the development of any product displaying it.

Other more eco-friendly gift options this year would be to gift an experience or shop secondhand and vintage. And always remember to think: less but better, putting the time into picking a quality item that will last a long time. This reduces the chances of gifts going to waste and can be better for your wallet!