Ecolabelling

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A system of labeling products to indicate they meet environmental standards and have reduced ecological impact
2. A certification scheme that marks goods as produced or sourced in ways that minimize harm to the environment
3. An environmental certification program that identifies products manufactured with sustainable practices and lower environmental footprint

Etymology: "Ecolabelling" is a straightforward compound: the prefix "eco-", short for "ecological" and used to mark things concerned with the environment, joined to "labelling," the act of attaching a label to a product. The combination describes the practice of certifying and marking goods according to their environmental credentials, so a label tells a shopper that a product meets some recognised standard of ecological performance. The word follows the pattern of "labelling" itself, the verb noun formed from "label," which came into English from Anglo-French and originally referred to a strip or ribbon, especially one hung from a garment or seal. The "eco-" element is the more recent part of the story, since it spread in English as a prefix in the late twentieth century, well after the older base word had settled into its everyday sense. Taken together, the two parts describe a fairly literal activity: placing a marker on a product to show that its environmental impact has been assessed. The word is therefore a transparent modern compound rather than a term with a dramatic history of its own.

Synonyms: eco-labeling, environmental labeling