WWF's Canadian Living Planet Report

Canada may possess some of the most expansive wilderness on the planet, but Canadians are amongst the world's biggest consumers of resources. According to the WWF’s Living Planet Report, if everyone on Earth consumed resources at the same rate as Canadians, it would take four Earths to meet Canada's demand.

According to the report, Canada has the 7th largest ecological footprint, which is two and half times the global average. Canada also has the 16th largest water footprint! More than half of Canada’s total footprint is a result of their carbon footprint, mostly from fossil fuel use.

The report recommended that Canadian businesses need to implement sustainability policies and practices. Canadians must also demand that their governments increase energy efficiency standards. All Canadians need to play their part in reducing Canada's massive footprint.


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Canadian Guidelines on Environmental Claims

The Competition Bureau of Canada and the Canadian Standards Association have developed guidelines based on ISO 14021 detailing the appropriate use of environmental terms. Their guide reflects the most current, internationally accepted, best practice information on the use of environmental claims. The guide is designed to help level playing field; reduce the risk of communicating misleading environmental claims; provide an incentive to improve environmental performance; and meet the growing consumer demand for products and packaging to have a reduced environmental impact.

The second edition of the guideline titled Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers, was published in June 2008 by Canadian Standards Association, a not-for-profit private sector organization. It supersedes the previous edition published in 2000, entitled The CAN/CSA-ISO 14021 Essentials.

The first objective of this guide is to provide the users of ISO 14021, with a best practice guide to the application of the standard and some practical examples of how the standard could be applied to environmental claims in the Canadian marketplace.

The second objective is to provide assistance to industry and advertisers in complying with certain provisions of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, and the Textile Labelling Act.

This guide provides examples of preferred approaches and discouraged approaches to illustrate commonly used environmental claims; shows how to avoid misleading or deceptive claims relating to an implied or expressed environmental benefit; establishes the guidelines for Mobius loop markings; and suggests methodologies for tests that can be used to clarify claims.

The guide offers best practices for complying with the provisions that prohibit false or misleading representations. Download the entire document (PDF, 589 KB, 72 Pages) .

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