Consumers are being confused and misled by the hodgepodge of environmental claims made by household products, according to a “green labeling” study published by Consumers International Friday.
Among the report’s more outrageous findings — a German fertilizer described itself as “earthworm friendly” a brand of flour said it was “nonpolluting” and a British toilet paper claimed to be “environmentally friendlier”.
The study was written and researched by Britain’s National Consumer Council (NCC) for lobby group Consumer International. It was funded by the German and Dutch governments and the European Commission.
“While many good and useful claims are being made, it is clear there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impact of products they buy,” said Consumers International director Anna Fielder.
The 10country study surveyed product packaging in Britain. Western Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. It found that products sold in Germany and the United Kingdom made the most environmental claims on average.
The report focused on claims made by specific products, such as detergent insect sprays and by some garden products. It did not test the claims, but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in September,1999.
“Many products had speciallydesigned labels to make them seem environmentally friendly, but in fact many of these symbols mean nothing.” said report researcher Philip Page.
“Laundry detergents made the most number of claims with 158. Household cleaners were second with 145 separate claims. while paints were third on our list with 73.The high numbers show how very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading.” he said.
The ISO labeling standards ban vague or misleading claims on product packaging, because terms such as “environmentally friendly” and “nonpolluting” cannot be verified. “What we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO.” said Page.
【2005年6月】
刊登在周五的《国际消费者》上的一项研究“绿色标签”的报告指称，消费者已被那些无处不在且声称环保的家用产品弄得无所适从。
该研究报告所列的那些令人难以容忍的例子有：一家德国肥料制造商竟然宣称其产品不会伤及泥土里的蠕虫；一种面粉居然声称“无污染”；一种产自英国的厕纸则宣称其产品是“环境爱好者”。
该研究报告由英国的全国消费者理事会应《国际消费者》之邀而研究撰写的；并由德国政府，荷兰政府及欧盟委员会资助。
《国际消费者》的主管安娜·费尔德说：“还是有一些有益的东西，但距离让消费者准确、合理地了解他们所购物品对环境的影响还有一段长路要走。”
产自10个国家的产品在英国接受此次调查，包括西欧、斯堪的那维亚各国和美国。调查发现，在英国和德国出售的产品所做此类声明最多。
研究报告侧重于调查一些特定类别的产品，诸如洗涤剂、杀虫剂和一些园艺用品。但并不对这些声明进行测试，只是拿它们与ISO于1999年9月发布的标签指导手册对比。Researchers documented claims of environmental friendliness made by about 2,000 products and found many too vague or too misleading to meet ISO standards.
研究人员对2000多种声称对环境“友好”的产品进行检验，结果却发现很多此类声明要么过于模糊不清，要么误导性太强；均无法达到ISO的标准。
菲利浦·佩吉是研究报告的撰写人之一，他说：“很多产品有意设计出表明对环境无害的说明性短语，但实际上很多此类说明什么也不是。”
他还说道：“衣服清洗剂所做此类环保声明最多，共有158宗。家用清洁剂排在第二，共有145宗。油漆名列第三，共有73宗。如此一来，消费者就得从这么多的有误导性的信息中去伪存真。”
ISO标签标准禁止在产品包装上发布模糊或误导性的信息，因为诸如“对环境友好”，“无污染”此类声明均无法考证。佩吉说道：“现在所要做的就是让跨国公司严格遵守ISO的标准。”
1. According to the passage, the NCC found it outrageous that.
A)all the products surveyed claim to meet ISO standards
B)the claims made by products are often unclear or deceiving
C)consumers would believe many of the manufactures’ claim
D)few products actually prove to be environment friendly
2. As indicated in this passage, with so many good claims, the consumers.
A)are becoming more cautious about the products they are going to buy
B)are still not willing to pay more for products with green labeling
C)are becoming more aware of the effects different products have on the environment
D)still do not know the exact impact of different products on the environment
3. A study was carried out by Britain’s NCC to.
A)find out how many claims made by products fail to meet environmental standards
B)inform the consumers of the environmental impact of the products they buy
C)examine claims made by products against ISO standards
D)revise the guidelines set by the International Standards Organization
4. What is one of the consequences caused by the many claims of household products?
A)They are likely to lead to serious environmental problems.
B)Consumers find it difficult to tell the true from the false.
C)They could arouse widespread anger among consumer.
D)Consumers will be tempted to buy products they don’t need.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that the lobby group Consumer International wants to.
A)make product labeling satisfy ISO requirements
B)see all household products meet environmental standards
C)warn consumers of the danger of socalled green products
D)verify the efforts of nonpolluting products
