Ecolabeling: voting with our wallets.

• Position: Ecology

ONE INSTRUMENT that can help in the environmental restructuring of the economy is ecolabeling, asserts Lester R. Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute, Washington, D.C. Labeling products that are produced with environmentally sound practices lets consumers vote with their wallets. Ecolabeling now is employed to enable consumers to identify energy-efficient household appliances, products from sustainably managed fisheries and forests, and "green" electricity from renewable sources.

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Among these ecolabels are those awarded by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for seafood. In March 2000, MSC launched its fisheries certification program when it approved the Western Australia Rock Lobster Fishery. Also earning approval at that time was the West Thames Herring Fishery. In September 2000, the Alaska Salmon Fishery became the first in the U.S. to be certified---for five different types of salmon, no less. By October 2007, there were 23 certified fisheries worldwide supplying some 2,500,000 tons of seafood.

The MSC's counterpart for forest products is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), founded in 1993 by the World Wide Fund for Nature (VWVF) and other groups. It provides information on management practices. Some of the world's forests are managed to sustain a steady harvest in perpetuity; others are clearcut, decimated overnight in the quest for quick profits. FSC issues labels only for products from the former, whether it be lumber sold at a hardware store, furniture in a furniture store, or paper in a stationery store. Headquartered in Oaxaca, Mexico, FSC accredits national organizations that verify that forests are being managed sustainably. In addition to this on-the-ground monitoring, the accredited organizations must be able to trace the raw product through the various stages of processing to the consumer. The FSC sets the standards and provides the FSC label, the stamp of approval, although the actual work is done by national organizations, explains Brown.

The FSC has established nine principles that must be satisfied if forests are to qualify for its label. The central requirement is that the forest be managed in a way that ensures that its yield can be sustained indefinitely. This means careful selective cutting, in effect mimicking nature's management of woodlands by removing the more mature, older trees over time. The FSC label provides consumers with the information they need to support responsible...