Glossary for Eco Terms and Organizations

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BCS Öko-Garanite. "BCS certifies more than 450.000 farmers and more than 1000 processing businesses in import and export worldwide. Our services cover all vital agricultural cultivations and the majority of all relevant processing industries. Several market leaders are among the companies serviced by BCS." www.bcs-oeko.com

The Campain for Safe Cosmetics. "The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition effort launched in 2004 to protect the health of consumers and workers by securing the corporate, regulatory and legislative reforms necessary to eliminate dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.

Key nonprofit coalition partners in the Campaign include the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (represented by Clean Water Action and Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition), the Breast Cancer Fund, Commonweal, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth and Women’s Voices for the Earth. The Breast Cancer Fund, a national 501(c)(3) organization focused on preventing breast cancer by identifying and eliminating the environmental links to the disease, serves as the national coordinator for the Campaign.

We're working with more than 100 endorsing organizations, thousands of grassroots supporters and over 1,300 companies that have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics." www.safecosmetics.org

Quality Assurance International. "Independent, third party certification of organic food systems has been the foundation of domestic and international organic food trade. Our job at QAI is to verify that the organic integrity is maintained. The QAI Certification Program is designed to certify every step of the organic chain: From the land on which the product is grown; to the producers growing the product; to the post-harvest facilities preparing the product; to the processing and handling facilities transforming the product." www.qai-inc.com

Global Organic Textile Standard. "The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is recognised as the leading processing standard for textiles made from organic fibres worldwide. It defines high level environmental criteria along the entire supply chain of organic textiles and requires compliance with social criteria as well." www.global-standard.org.

Modal. A type of rayon made from beech tree wood.

BDIH-Certified natural. "BDIH is the Association of German Industries and Trading Firms for pharmaceuticals, health care products, food supplements and personal hygiene products (www.bdih.de). The Association, located in Mannheim, Germany, has organized over 440 producers and distributors of

· Cosmetics and Natural Cosmetics

· Food Supplements

· Nutritonal Foods

· Over-the-counter Medications

· Medical Devices

In 1996, working together with leading natural cosmetics producers, the BDIH developed comprehensive guidelines for certified natural cosmetics, keeping in mind the expectations of consumers. On the basis of these guidelines, an independent institute has tested more than 2.000 products for their contents and production methods." www.kontrolliertenaturkosmetik.de/e/guideline_natural_cosmetics.htm