Welcome! Carbonlabels.org is an initiative by Conscious Brands™, a Canadian for profit that has launched the first North American Carbon Label for the organic food industry.
We are looking for an additional 10 SME (small to medium enterprises) pilot clients who what to further understand and lower the life-cycle impacts of their products. Our initial focus is in the food manufacturing sector, but we are interested in other business sectors as well. If you're interested in being a pilot client, fill out our online survey at surveymonkey.com and we will follow-up with you.
What is a carbon label?
A good but imperfect number representing the total global warming emissions a food product creates over its life cycle, from farming and raw material extraction all the way to disposal of the product’s packaging.
Why carbon label?
- Global warming is a dire threat to society and the natural world, and innovative solutions are required now
- Governments, businesses and individuals all have an opportunity to help in solving the global warming crisis by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing greenhouse gas sinks
- Right now, there are ways to materially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase sinks from growing, processing, packaging and moving food products
- Increasing transparency between food producers and food buyers will provide the incentive for more climate-friendly supply chains
What use is a carbon label?
If you’re a food producer: In order for a company to move forward, they have to know where they stand. A carbon label provides a quantitative benchmark for the current global warming impact of a product’s supply chain. This measurement is a critical component for a food producer looking to reduce inefficiencies and environmental impacts of its products' value chains.
If you’re a consumer: Knowing the number of grams of carbon emitted from the production of a candy bar doesn’t help the average consumer much at all. Rather the carbon label has value for consumers as a comparative measure over time. Consumers can reference the carbon label and associated messaging to see if food producers are making real reductions in the global warming impact of their product. And just seeing the carbon label on a food’s packaging tells food buyers that a producer is committed to transparency and environmental efficiency. And because the carbon label is presented in uniform, quantitative terms, it increases consumer awareness of the relative environmental impact of different foods