Sustainable Communities BA at Dominican University of California

The Blue Angel is the classic among the environmental labels. And it is as relevant today as it ever was.

The oldest environmental label in the world: the Blue Angel.
The Blue Angel is the first and oldest environment-related label in the world for products and services. It was created in 1977 on the initiative of the Federal Minister of the Interior and approved by the Ministers of the Environment of the national government and the federal states. It was designed as an instrument of environmental policy which would harmonise with the market and enable the positive features of products and services to be labelled on a voluntary basis. As a result, it fits in well with the competition for the best possible ecological properties of products and services. And its success has grown: in 1978 the first six awards were granted by the Environmental Label jury. Now, about 3,700 products and services in 80 product categories bear the Blue Angel. When the best products from an ecological point of view have become the standard, the Blue Angel will have achieved its goal. With new product categories for the Environmental Label (e.g. mobile phones and waterway transport), the influence of the label is constantly expanding.

One label says more than a thousand words.
The task which is associated with the Environmental Label is clearly defined: the Blue Angel promotes the concerns of both environmental protection and consumer protection. Therefore it is awarded to products and services which are particularly beneficial for the environment in an all-round consideration and which also fulfil high standards of occupational health and safety and fitness for use. Economical use of raw materials, production, usage, service life and disposal – all these factors are assigned a high importance. Products which are awarded the label bear the logo of the Blue Angel directly on the product whereby service companies use it on materials used to offer their services. The logo consists of the following three elements: First the environmental symbol of the United Nations in the form of a blue ring with a laurel wreath and a blue figure with outstretched arms in the middle. Secondly, the text around the edge which specifically mentions the most important environmental properties of the respective product or service. Thirdly, the reference to the independent Environmental Label jury on certain product categories and the criteria which had to be met.

The organisation behind the label.
The Blue Angel environmental label is the property of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety. It is sponsored and administered by the Federal Environmental Agency and the quality assurance and product labelling institute RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V. All technical demands placed on products and services for the award of the Environmental Label are decided by the independent Environmental Label jury. The award of the Blue Angel is entrusted to the RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V. – with the participation of the Federal Environmental Agency and the federal state in which the manufacturer or supplier of the respective product or service has its registered office. The Federal Environmental Agency is responsible, among other things, for the development of requirements for the award of the Blue Angel – and the Environmental Label jury has its office in the Federal Environmental Agency.