We are all familiar with product labels, such as fair trade, vegan and energy star. These labels help us to make educated purchase decisions.
You may have noticed products with carbon labels but might be wondering what those labels mean as they can sound pretty similar.
Let’s take a look at some of the labels.
- Carbon Neutral: This means that a company removes the amount of carbon that is equal to what it emits.
- Climate Neutral: This is a higher standard than carbon neutral. Climate neutral is achieved when a company reduces its greenhouse gas emissions to zero while also eliminating all other negative environmental impacts it is responsible for.
- Net-Zero Emissions: All greenhouse gas emissions (not just carbon) are balanced against the greenhouse gases removed from the atmosphere.
These labels are informative but there isn’t a widely adopted standardized carbon labeling approach so remember to do some research to see how a company is supporting its claim.
This information (and more) can be found in The Carbon Almanac.