Brands embrace the Carbon Reduction Label
The phenomenal growth in use of the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label is testament to brands’ commitment to communicating their green credentials.
Tesco, Walkers, Tate & Lyle and Kingsmill are just some of the brands that have signed up to the scheme and are displaying the footprint logo prominently on-pack. In September 2009 products carrying the label had an annual retail value of £1.4bn; that figure has now almost doubled and stands at £2.7bn.
A significant contributor to the uplift is Tesco’s decision to certify its skimmed, semi-skimmed and whole milk.
Euan Murray, general manager of carbon footprinting at the Carbon Trust, says of this development: ‘For me it’s symbolic because it’s another brand which is in everybody’s shopping basket. What we are trying to do is get in front of as many people as possible.’
He adds: ‘This is not about preaching to the converted it’s about getting everyone engaged with the sort of things that people buy on an everyday basis.’ New to the fold this year will be Morphy Richards, which is due to start using the label across the majority of its UK steam iron range from the end of February.
This will be communicated to consumers by online marketing on the Morphy Richards website, social media and through its wider marketing communications activity throughout 2010.
A key message will be to raise awareness that 80% of the carbon emitted during the life of an iron occurs when it is being used at home.
Rod Burrows, Morphy Richards director of marketing, says: ‘We hope that consumers will recognise the work we have conducted with the Carbon Trust and respect the brand for taking its environmental responsibilities seriously.’
But for Burrows this year’s activity is ‘only the beginning of the journey’. He reveals that the company is ‘using the results of the work in our NPD innovation to make sure our products of the future lead the market in energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions’.
But the reach of the label extends beyond the items used inside the home. Marshalls, the landscape gardening company, has embedded sustainability and the Carbon Reduction Label into the heart of its consumer and business customer marketing strategies.
David Morrell, the group head of sustainability at Marshalls, says the transparency offered by third–party accreditation is what attracted his company to achieving the label at the outset.
‘It’s a defined method using PAS2050 [the standard for measuring the embodied greenhouse gas emissions from goods and services], it’s verified externally and asks the company to commit to further reductions,’ he explains.
While recognition of the label is still relatively low compared to the likes of longer running schemes such as Fairtrade, a Carbon Trust communications campaign targeting young mothers and more brands signing up to carry the label are likely to change this in the coming year.
