SEE: yet another new ethical label?
Here's an interesting twist on the statistics we're being bombarded with by companies making claims about their greenness: according to research by Ipsos MORI, 80% of Britons think that companies pretend to be ethical just to sell more products, compared to just over two-thirds in 2005.
The survey was carried out for SEE Potential, a new ethical label. It’s another one of these ethical stamps which we’re supposed to recognise on a product’s packaging to make us feel easier that what we are buying is good to the people who make it and to the environment. SEE ask companies 35 very basic questions about the human rights and environmental considerations that go into making a product. If a company meets the criteria, and can provide evidence of ethical behaviour if SEE request it, they get the stamp. All of this comes at a fee to the company for the privaledge of putting a stamp on their product which will hopefully convince customers that the product is ethical. Does this work?
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SEE’s website is transparent enough for us to judge for ourselves. Soon, they tell us, we will be able to look on the SEE website and view the answers companies provided in order to get their SEE approval, and then we can judge for ourselves.
