Counterproductive eco-labelling

"Ecologically-friendly" lines of supermarket products are being dropped on the basis that the environmental issues have become so muddied, the counter-claims by pressure groups and rival producers so strident, and a green price levy so inappropriate in a recession that consumers no longer know whom to trust and suspect the whole thing was dreamed up by marketing executives.

Shopping habits have been transformed by the attention focused on ecologically sound purchasing. Unleaded petrol and recycled paper has become widely available and sell well, the days of CFCs in refrigerants and aerosols are almost over, organic produce holds its, albeit minute, market share. More importantly, systemic change has occurred with the introduction of new laws has improved production standards all round. Products are more routinely rated by their full impact on the environment -- from cradle to grave. In addition, Third World commodity producers are increasingly finding fair trade opportunities with direct sales to sympathetic exporters, thus freeing them from exploitative practices of cartels and price rigging.