The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is redesigning the label that it uses for its Design for the Environment initiative. Products bear this label voluntarily to showcase a commitment to safety, when it comes to both the environment and to individual customers.
On the EPA’s official website, visitors can see the four variations being considered for the label, as well as an example of the product container it will be displayed on. This organization is still collecting comments from the public on the best logo.
The four options, labeled A through D, feature a combination of blue, green and white colors to suggest cleanliness and environmental friendliness. While there are similar features in each, there are also notable differences: Three of the designs the address of the Safer Product website underneath the logo’s body, and one of them is a lighter shade of blue than the others.
An article in Farm Futures on this initiative comments from Jim Jones of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. He described some of the reasoning behind this open comment period, which will last until the end of this October.
“We want consumers to be able to easily find safer products that work well,” he said. “The agency wants to hear from the American people on which designs will help people identify household cleaning and other products that are safer for families and the environment.”
Chemical producers should not only take these labels into account, but also consider how to successfully design their own packaging so it doesn’t obscure or clash with these federal labels, even if they are voluntary.