Editing Environmentally friendly (section)

{{Short description|Sustainability and marketing term}}
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[[Image:Depuradora de Lluc.JPG|thumb|A [[sewage treatment]] plant that uses [[solar energy]], located at [[Santuari de Lluc]] monastery in [[Spain]].]]
[[File:'Environmentally Friendly' Speed Warning - geograph.org.uk - 49267.jpg|thumb|Environmentally friendly speed warning powered by [[solar power|solar]] and [[wind power]].]]
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'''Environment friendly processes''', or '''environmental-friendly processes''' (also referred to as '''eco-friendly''', '''nature-friendly''', and '''green'''), are [[sustainability]] and [[marketing]] terms referring to [[goods and services]], [[law]]s, guidelines and policies that [[marketing claim|claim]] reduced, minimal, or no harm upon [[ecosystem]]s or the [[Environment (biophysical)|environment]].<ref name="definition">{{cite encyclopedia|title =nature-friendly |encyclopedia=Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7) |publisher=Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.  }}</ref>

Companies use these ambiguous terms to promote goods and services, sometimes with additional, more specific certifications, such as [[ecolabel]]s. Their overuse can be referred to as [[greenwashing]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/02/12/the-history-of-greenwashing-how-dirty-towels-impacted-the-green/ |title=A History of Greenwashing: How Dirty Towels Impacted the Green Movement |first=Jim |last=Motavalli |date=12 February 2011 |work=AOL}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |trans-title=Greenwashers invade the market |language=da |title=Grønvaskere invaderer børsen |url=http://epn.dk/privatokonomi/investering/article1374993.ece |work=EPN.dk |publisher=Jyllands-Posten |date=21 June 2008 |access-date=22 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705195538/http://epn.dk/privatokonomi/investering/article1374993.ece |archive-date=5 July 2008 }}</ref><ref name="gfs">Greenwashing Fact Sheet. 22 March 2001. Retrieved 14 November 2009. from [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=242 corpwatch.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207224534/http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=242 |date=7 February 2017 }}</ref> To ensure the successful meeting of [[Sustainable Development Goals|Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)]] companies are advised to employ environmental friendly processes in their production.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/148102|title=Eco friendly production key to achieving sdgs|work=‘Eco-friendly production key to achieving SDGs’ &#124; theindependentbd.com }}</ref> Specifically, [[Sustainable Development Goal 12]] measures 11 targets and 13 indicators "to ensure [[sustainable consumption]] and [[sustainable production|production]] patterns".<ref>United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, [[:File:A RES 71 313 E.pdf|Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development]] ([https://undocs.org/A/RES/71/313 A/RES/71/313])</ref>

The [[International Organization for Standardization]] has developed ISO 14020 and ISO 14024 to establish principles and procedures for environmental labels and declarations that certifiers and eco-labellers should follow. In particular, these standards relate to the avoidance of financial [[Conflict of interest|conflicts of interest]], the use of sound [[scientific method]]s and accepted test procedures, and [[openness]] and [[Transparency (behavior)|transparency]] in the setting of standards.<ref>{{cite web|title=international standards for eco-labeling|url=http://www.greenseal.org/GreenBusiness/Standards/HowGreenSealDevelopsStandards/InternationalStandardsforEcoLabeling.aspx|publisher=Green Seal|access-date=9 December 2012|archive-date=28 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128131515/http://www.greenseal.org/GreenBusiness/Standards/HowGreenSealDevelopsStandards/InternationalStandardsforEcoLabeling.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>