Environmental, WHAT?

Consumers today are extremely conscious about what kinds of products they’re purchasing for their bodies, homes, and businesses, and with so many choices available it’s hard to know what products may be guilty of some of the “Seven Sins of Greenwashing” — otherwise known as stating a product is generally natural, green friendly, or organic, when it has undergone zero testing or certification.

Karen Righthand is the Director of Sales and Marketing for SCS Global Services, a 35 year old Bay Area based company that provides worldwide certifications for a variety of needs. The company is split up into three divisions handling all types of Food and Agriculture, Carbon Footprint, Building Product, and Natural Resource based certifications.

“We try to bring actual science and rigor to the kinds of claims that both companies and products can carry,” Righthand said.

In this podcast, Karen highlights how the company issues these certifications, and what really goes into marketing your foods & products as organic, non-GMO, or fair trade, including the ways that the products are quantified and validated, tested, and audited. More in-depth, she explains how Clarus, a company that prides itself on its certifications, accomplishes them in their design and manufacturing process and how they maintain them year after year.