Green Cross

Long used by several organizations, the Green Cross has become a symbol of environmental awareness and responsibility.

A religiously oriented group officially called the American Association of the Green Cross is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and describes itself as "a new Christian environmental organization whose purpose is to address the ethical and moral issues underlying ecological issues, and to mobilize volunteers in service to Creation." The group's motto is "serving and keeping Creation," and it encourages such activities as "the development of every church as a Creation-awareness center, education about Christian responsibility for the earth, local action to address ecological issues." The group also promotes tree planting, urban gardening, habitat restoration, resource conservation , and waste reduction . It is associated with the North American Conference on Christianity and Ecology, and it plans to establish a network of chapters in churches, schools, youth groups, and colleges.

The International Green Cross and Green Crescent is a new environmental group formed in April 1993 and headed by former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. Hoping to do for the environment what the Red Cross and Red Crescent have done for disaster relief, the International Green Cross will work to coordinate environmental efforts on a global scale. Mr. Gorbachev has said that he accepted leadership of the group because "I am convinced that saving the environment is the number one priority for all countries." Sponsors of the organization include an array of distinguished world political and spiritual leaders, including India's Mother Teresa and Javier Perez de Cuellar, the former Secretary General of the United Nations.

The Green Cross Certification Company is the former name of a non-profit group that awarded certifications to manufacturers whose products met certain limited environmental standards. The certification program is now administered by Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. (SCS), a private, for-profit laboratory that charges manufacturers a fee to research products and to verify their performance and claims. SCS says that it is "committed to developing programs that motivate private industry to work toward an environmentally sustainable future" by "conducting independent, unbiased evaluations of products and product claims, and recognizing products achieving exceptional environmental performance goals." The SCS Environmental Report Card summarizes the environmental performance of a product, including the amount of "environmental burden" associated with the product and its packaging.

SCS emphasizes that it does not approve products as "green" or environmentally acceptable, but rather verifies the environmental claims that companies make for their products and analyses their environmental impact. SCS tries to evaluate a product's life cycle program, the impact it has from manufacture to disposal. Factors considered usually include the toxic waste generated and the energy used in production, the recycled content of the product, and its recyclability or biodegradability upon disposal. Different product categories have varying standards of acceptability depending on the state of technology for the above factors for the particular product or industry.

See also Environmental consumers; Environmental ethics; Green advertising and marketing; Green products; Nongovernmental organization

[Lewis G. Regenstein ]