How to find eco-friendly products online?

The European Ecolabel (ecolabel.eu), created in 1992 by the European Commission, is the only official European eco-label recognised in all European Union Member States. 

It is only awarded to products and services that meet strict environmental standards throughout their life cycle: from sourcing raw materials, to the production process, distribution chain and disposal method. It works by encouraging suppliers and manufacturers to use processes that generate less waste and CO2 emissions to develop products that are durable, easy to repair and recycle.

In 2022, the label covers more than 80,000 product references across 23 categories.

Example: European Ecolabel wall paints contain 10 times less harmful substances than conventional products.

Established in 1989, Nordic Ecolabelling, also known as the Nordic Swan, is the official eco-label of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).

It works by setting strict environmental requirements across all the phases of a product’s life cycle and currently certifies 55 product groups and more than 25,000 products according to strict criteria that take into account important environmental aspects such as the use of sustainable raw materials and biodiversity, the circular economy and resource efficiency, energy use and climate impact, and avoidance of harmful chemicals, nano- and microplastics in manufacturing.

The Blue Angel (Blauer Engel) is a label created by the Federal Environment Agency in Germany. It certifies products based on strict criteria such as ecological processes and environmental impact.

The testing and certification criteria are developed by the German Environment Agency on a scientific basis and it currently manages a database of 20,000 products from 1,600 companies.

Some sellers or service providers use questionable certifications in a misleading way. If you want to ensure that you are buying a ‘green’ product, check the official website of the label or certification body listed. Only labels that comply with the international standard ISO 14024 are genuine.

If you choose products based on their claiming to be 100% ‘green origin’, you may want to investigate further, particularly when it comes to cosmetics and personal hygiene products.

To make an informed choice, you may wish to learn more about a product’s ingredients, staying away from those known to be controversial or harmful.

From 2026, presenting an environmental claim concerning the whole of the trader's product or business, when it concerns only one aspect of the product or a specific activity of the trader's business, will be considered an unfair commercial practice at European Union level.

To reassure you, many sellers or brands use generic terms such as ‘sustainable’, ‘natural’, ‘climate-friendly’, ‘ecological’, ‘environmentally-friendly’, ‘biodegradable’, ‘biosourced’, ‘green’, ‘protects the planet’, ‘nature-friendly’ and other similar formulations.

These terms do not always refer to a particular environmental impact of the product, but suggest an overall benefit for the environment.  From 2026, these generic claims will only be authorised if the trader using them can provide indisputable proof. Otherwise, they will be considered unfair to consumers.

• Some professionals specifically promote the durability of their products by highlighting the number of times they are used. This is the case for washing machines and tumble dryers, for example. Try to find out from different online reviews or tests whether this sustainability is real. From 2026, it will be forbidden to promise sustainability that is unfounded, such as an overestimated number of washing cycles for a new washing machine.
• Some sellers and brands also promote the biodegradable nature of the product. But they are over-packaged or packaged in polluting materials that are difficult to recycle.
• Other sellers misuse the term ‘eco-design’ when presenting an appliance.  According to a European directive, appliances must be designed to meet a number of criteria and are therefore always ‘eco-designed’. Depending on how it is used, this label may lead you to believe that the product in question has a better environmental performance than another product in the same category.

• Many retailers are fond of the terms ‘carbon neutrality’, ‘zero net emissions’ or ‘negative carbon footprint’. Carbon neutrality means a balance between the CO₂ emissions caused throughout the product's production cycle and the absorption of CO₂ by carbon sinks (oceans, forming forests, for example). Ask yourself how this balance is calculated, how the company can quantify the absorption of CO₂.  To be carbon neutral, does it simply finance offsetting projects (tree planting, etc.) while continuing to pollute?

A future directive will provide for a ban in the European Union on all claims that a product has a ‘neutral’, ‘reduced’ or ‘positive’ impact on the environment due to the use of carbon offsetting systems. And another directive on ecological claims foresees that by 2026, in the European Union, ecological claims based solely on carbon offsetting systems will be banned, unless the companies concerned have already reduced their CO2 emissions to a minimum and only use these offsetting systems for residual CO2 emissions.

In France, the Climate and Resilience Act has already prohibited advertising claims that a product is carbon-neutral without complying with certain rules. The same law already prohibits the use of certain terms such as ‘environmentally friendly’ or ‘biodegradable’.

One of the easiest ways for a website to give the impression on ‘clean’ and ‘natural’ is to use green colours in its design and imagery. Consumers will often be reassured that buying certain products means that they are also saving the planet in a small way – this is projected by marketing green packaging, images of natural landscapes, etc.

Nevertheless, it is advisable to investigate a seller’s or manufacturer’s real ecological credentials, and whether the imagery/content is not simply a marketing ploy to influence making a purchase.

You may come across comparative advertising. These relate to a product's environmental performance.

According to a European directive, comparative environmental claims will soon be based on equivalent information and data. If a comparison is based on an earlier version of the product concerned, the professional will have to prove that the improvement is significant and has been achieved over the last 5 years.

So be careful, and do not always rely on comparative advertising if all the elements of comparison are not given to you or are not clear to you!

Greenhushing is more or less the opposite of greenwashing.

Some companies are increasingly refraining from communicating about their climate commitments and are sticking to the minimum amount of information they are obliged to disclose under current regulations.

In this way, they avoid having to comply with existing regulations on environmental claims and expose themselves to the judgement of customers.

This does not mean, however, that their products aren’t eco-friendly. But this lack of information about a product you have spotted can make your decision-making more difficult.

When you find yourself with little or no information about a so-called eco-friendly product, try to find out more about it. Read the online opinions of other buyers, go hunting for information on third-party sites, and compare the product's known performance with that of similar products. You can also check out the manufacturer's web page, which may tell you more about its environmental policy and commitments as a whole.