Environmentally friendly

A sewage treatment plant that uses solar energy, located at Santuari de Lluc monastery in Spain.
Environmentally friendly speed warning powered by solar and wind power.

Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that claim reduced, minimal, or no harm upon ecosystems or the environment.[1]

Companies use these ambiguous terms to promote goods and services, sometimes with additional, more specific certifications, such as ecolabels. Their overuse can be referred to as greenwashing.[2][3][4] To ensure the successful meeting of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) companies are advised to employ environmental friendly processes in their production.[5] Specifically, Sustainable Development Goal 12 measures 11 targets and 13 indicators "to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns".[6]

The International Organization for Standardization has developed ISO 14020 and ISO 14024 to establish principles and procedures for environmental labels and declarations that certifiers and eco-labellers should follow. In particular, these standards relate to the avoidance of financial conflicts of interest, the use of sound scientific methods and accepted test procedures, and openness and transparency in the setting of standards.[7]

  1. ^ "nature-friendly". Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7). Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.
  2. ^ Motavalli, Jim (12 February 2011). "A History of Greenwashing: How Dirty Towels Impacted the Green Movement". AOL.
  3. ^ "Grønvaskere invaderer børsen" [Greenwashers invade the market]. EPN.dk (in Danish). Jyllands-Posten. 21 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  4. ^ Greenwashing Fact Sheet. 22 March 2001. Retrieved 14 November 2009. from corpwatch.org Archived 7 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Eco friendly production key to achieving sdgs".
  6. ^ United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/71/313)
  7. ^ "international standards for eco-labeling". Green Seal. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012.