With each of us spending on average more than £500 per annum on green and environmentally friendly products, the government is keen to ensure that we have no problems understand the plethora of green labels and logos.

Unsurprisingly not every green product is quite as "green" as it may seem, so the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has produced a consumer guide to explain the main types of environmental labels we are likely to find.

Green and Ethical Buying Increasing

A recent report by the Co-operative Bank - The Ethical Consumerism Report 2005 - point to a steady growth in ethical consumerism. It found:

• In 2004, sales of ethical products and services increased by 15 per cent to a total of £25.8 billion
• Spend on food, including Fairtrade and organics topped £4 billion for the first time
• Spend on ethical fashion, reported on for the first time, stands at £680 million
• Market share for ethical products has increased by 22 per cent over the last six years

Variety of Schemes

Several schemes operate in the UK at the moment. Many products including fridges, paints and textiles are labelled according to the Flower scheme, common across Europe. Whilst participation is voluntary, products must be independently certified before they can be labelled.

We'll be looking at the different labelling schemes over the coming weeks. In the meantime, head over to the Defra website for more information on environment labelling and how to understand exactly what claims mean.

Related Internet Links

The Co-operative Bank
Defra