Nature never intended babies to enter the world with an average of 200 industrial chemicals in their blood stream. Incredibly, that’s what the Environmental Working Group found when they tested the umbilical blood of babies at birth. Most parents will find that fact worrying, if not downright terrifying. Unfortunately, if they want to do something about it, they’ll have a difficult time. Unlike food and personal care product makers, manufacturers of cleaning products are not required to disclose their ingredients.

That gaping regulatory hole doesn’t sit well with us so we decided to do something about it. We increased the amount of information on our own labels, lobbied for change, supported the Soap and Detergent Association’s ingredient disclosure initiative (see Changing our Industry), and launched our “Show the World What’s Inside Campaign” and label reading guide. We want shoppers to have clear, appropriate information to help them understand the health impacts of the products they bring into their homes. Our aim also goes much deeper; we want to engage consumers in understanding the difference that particular products and brands can make in the world around them.

Our Labels (see next page): We began using new, three-part, back labels on our products in 2008. Until that point, our labels contained a generic list of ingredients and consumers could go to our website for chemical- specific MSDS sheets listing every ingredient. Now, the full ingredient list on our labels also includes an explanation of each ingredient. We have also added a “safe and effective” chart listing the top two or three categories of functional ingredients and explaining their purpose and why they’re safe.

Label Reading Guide: Even our new labels don’t go as far as we would like them to. “We think people not only have a right to know what’s inside but to understand what they’re buying,” says Brand Mother Courtney Loveman. “Some of these chemical names sound like a whole lot of gobbledegook. Most people don’t know the difference between sodium citrate, which is a common, edible substance, and sodium hypochlorite, more commonly known as bleach, which is a severe skin, eye and lung irritant.”

To address this, we developed a Label Reading Guide, an interactive glossary of terms and ingredients commonly found on household cleaning product labels. We canvassed the entire cleaning aisle and were astounded to see how many products have no information or confusing terminology. Few people understand what’s meant by “adequate ventilation,” for example. Now, shoppers can query our guide on their cell phones right in the store aisle and make an informed choice. The guide is downloadable in a mobile, Mac, or Windows app or printable PDF so this critical information is only a click away. Shoppers love it! Users have even participated in creating a better guide by suggesting additional terms for us to include.

Deb Berman I totally agree, Jessica, the mainstream need to see the incredible innovation that Seventh Generation is doing ! 18 August 2009

Jessica Smith You should integrate your consumer facing social media marketing with your corporate responsibility marketing. 14 August 2009