What do labels like FSC, GOTS and B Corp actually mean?

On our ranking you'll see certification badges next to many products. But what does such a label actually say? A short, honest guide to the labels you'll encounter most often here.

The certifications at a glance

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) covers wood and paper. It guarantees the material comes from responsibly managed forests. Every certified company has a licence number (for example FSC-C012345) that you can look up in the public FSC register.

GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is the strictest standard for textiles: at least 70% organic fibres, plus requirements on chemicals, wastewater and working conditions across the whole chain.

B Corp certifies not a product but an entire company. It measures impact on employees, community and environment. Worth knowing: it says something about the maker, not automatically about every individual product.

EU Ecolabel is the European Union's official environmental label, with criteria per product group across the full life cycle, from raw material to waste.

OEKO-TEX tests textiles for harmful substances. Note: it says something about your health, not necessarily about the environment or production conditions.

Why we make certifications verifiable

A logo is easily printed on packaging. That is why, wherever possible, we record the registration number for products on our list, with a link to the certifier's public register. That way you can check the claim yourself, exactly as we do during curation.

No certification? A product can still make the list through our manual checklist, read how that works on the methodology page.

One warning

A certification is a floor, not a verdict. The best product is often the product you don't buy because you already own it. Our list helps you with the purchases you were planning anyway, choosing more consciously, not buying more.