Environmental symbols are cool, but what do they mean?

Have you ever gone to a grocery store and looked for things that were packaged sustainably but ended up looking at a bunch of symbols that you’re not quite sure of? Or have you ever purchased something that had a leaf symbol with words like “certified” and “approved” and thought yeah that looks legit, I’ll buy it? In this blog post I’ll include some of the popular environmental symbols and their meaning.

Before I get into it, you’re probably wondering why this is important. We’re trying to be sustainable and reduce the carbon footprint. When you buy something, you’re contributing to it; whether they’re good or bad, that’s a different story. Ultimately, you always want to contribute to something that is doing something helpful for the environment. For example, buy cereal boxes made with a ton of plastic material isn’t so great, but getting cereal packaged in recyclable and biodegradable material is awesome.

The symbols below are some of the popular symbols we see on packaging labels and they’ll help direct us on whether we should buy or not. Now obviously, if a company isn’t doing something great to the environment they won’t say it; instead, they won’t have any labels. So look for these labels when you’re on your next shopping trip.

THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE
This seal of approval means that the companies are producing things sustainably. Only businesses, farms and forests that meet the strict environmental and social standards are given this award.

THE FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (FSC)
Any wood product or any product made out of wood that comes from an FSC approved forest is sustainable. They make sure that the forest is very well managed under strict standards (environments, economic, and social). This doesn’t apply to just the wood from these forests, cardboard and paper are also included; basically anything that was produced from the trees in these forests.

MOBIUS LOOP
The Mobius loop represents recycling. You have to be careful with this one as it does not mean that the product is 100% recyclable. It just means that the product may be recycled or contains recyclable material. You always want to check with your local recycling centers first beforehand.

PLASTIC RESIN CODES
This is basically a Mobius loop with a number in the middle. This is solely for products made with plastic resin. The number in the middle ranges from 1 to 7 depending on the amount of resin used to make it. Some numbers are accepted in some recycling plants while others aren’t. So double check as well.

THE TIDY MAN
So the tidy man isn’t really a certificate or approval of anything. It is a reminder for us to throw our trash in the garbage boxes appropriately. Get rid of your trash accordingly and of course, do NOT litter.

GLASS
This symbol is of the tidy man reminding us to recycle glass appropriately. Don’t just throw away your glass products; recycle them in glass bottle banks or even reuse them if it’s safe. Also, some glass containers are dyed so separate the colors.

ENERGY STAR
This symbol can be found on all products that are energy-efficient. Products with this symbol are sure to contribute in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as well as save you some money in comparison with other products that aren’t so energy efficient.

COMPOSTABLE
Whenever you find this symbol on plastic know that it’s good. Usually plastic is not so great when it comes to the environment but any plastic with this compostable symbol means it is biodegradable. Just make sure you get rid of the plastic with this symbol in the compost section and not in the plastic recycling centers as they can contaminate the other plastic when breaking down.

RECYCLABLE STEEL
Not all steel can be recycled. Only steel products with this symbol can be recycled. Most common recyclable steel products are soda cans and canned food.

RECYCLABLE ALUMINUM
Much like the recyclable steel, aluminum products with this symbol on them can be recycled. Cans, aluminum foil and foil trays can be made of recyclable aluminum.