Certificates and labels
Since honesty, fair working conditions, and an equal partnership with all people being involved in our production are of high relevance to us, we have decided to work together with Fairtrade and other label organizations. And because the topic of transparency also plays a major role in our work, we'd like to tell you a bit more about the marks which are labelling our products.
Fairtrade: the seal for fair, transparent trade relations
The official Fairtrade seal is awarded in Germany by Transfair e. V. and distinguishes products and contained raw materials that have been grown and produced according to the strict criteria of the Fair Trade movement. In concrete terms, this means, among other things, that no child or forced labour takes place, a guaranteed, cost-covering minimum price is paid and an additional fair trade premium is distributed, the use of which is decided by the members of a cooperative or an elected committee of workers and parts of the management. In addition, long-term trade relations are established and fair working conditions are created, which concern, for example, wages, work safety and working hours. Pre-financing options and transparent processes are also part of the Fairtrade guidelines, compliance with which is checked annually by the independent FLOCERT.
WFTO – guaranteed Fair Trade
The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO for short) awards this seal to member companies that allow themselves to be verified by the WFTO's independent monitoring system. The so-called "WFTO Guarantee System" was developed, among other things, because the widespread Fairtrade certification system of FLO International is only defined for individual products and only includes producers of so-called commodity products (raw materials, especially food produced on a large scale). In the handicraft sector, on the other hand, product standards are technically difficult to define and implement due to their diversity and complexity. The WFTO system aims to provide an alternative here by self-certifying Fair Trade enterprises. In contrast to the FLO International Fairtrade label, the WFTO label is therefore not a pure product label. Instead, it is intended to distinguish organisations whose core business is Fair Trade. If it passes the regular audits, the company can use the label on all its products.
The ten principles to which companies must commit are:
- creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
- Transparency and accountability
- Trading practices based on partnership
- Payment of fair prices
- Exclusion of exploitative child labour and forced labour
- gender equality, freedom of association, no discrimination
- Ensuring good working conditions
- Support in the development of action competence and knowledge ("capacity building")
- public relations and education work for fair trade
- environmental protection
NATRUE - natural cosmetics
The NATRUE seal is awarded by the International Association of Natural Cosmetics, based in Brussels, to promote and protect natural cosmetics worldwide. Products labelled with the NATRUE sign are since the organizations founding in 2007 of high standard.
In practical terms, this means:
- Using natural and organic ingredients
- Gentle manufacturing processes
- Environmentally friendly practices
- Not using synthetic fragrances and/or colors
- Not using ingredients deriving from petro-chemistry
- Not using GMO ingredients
- Not using radiation on the finished product or on the herbal ingredients
The Vegan Society
The seal of the international society “The Vegan Society” is mostly to be found on food products, clothing or cleaning products. It is still quite rare on cosmetic products. FAIR SQUARED products are certified by the English Vegan Society and meet their criteria. Here is an extract from their criteria:
- Animal ingredients: The manufacturer and/or producer may not involve or have involved the use of any animal products or animal by-products in their product or by the manufacturing of their product.
- Animal testing: The development and/or manufacture of the product may not involve or have involved testing of any sort on animals conducted at the initiative of the company or that has been carried out by a party/parties over whom the company has effective control.
- Genetically Modified Organisms: The development and/or production of genetically modified organisms (GMO) may not have involved concerning animal genes or animal-derived substances. Products containing GMOs must be labelled as such.
PeTA Cruelty-Free
PeTA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is the largest animal rights organization in the world and fights among other things against factory farming, animal testing and fur farming. PeTA lists all brands that have given written assurances that no animal testing will be performed or commissioned. PeTA exclusively lists companies with the best guidelines against animal testing in the positive list. These are companies whose corporate policies clearly stand against animal testing and thus help to avoid animal testing and to completely abolish it in the future.
Halal
Halal is Arabic for “allowed” or “approved”. It is for example forbidden for Muslims to consume pork and its by-products and blood, as well as intoxicants (alcohol). Muslims can also not eat animals that have not been slaughtered in the proper religious way.
People do however not only consume nutrients by eating them, but also through the skin. For Muslims, it is therefore necessary that cosmetic production is done without these “forbidden“ raw materials and that the production sites and machines are uncontaminated. Our production is audited on a yearly basis.
Fair Rubber: Fair conditions for natural rubber
Some raw materials are not covered by Fairtrade International, including the natural sap of the rubber tree: latex. This is where Fair Rubber e. V. comes in, which campaigns for fair conditions for latex tappers and awards products that have been produced in accordance with the guidelines. By using fairly traded natural rubber in FAIR SQUARED and FAIR ZONE products, as well as others that are sure to follow, we enable our cultivation partners in India and Sri Lanka to participate in Fair Trade. Besides an additional Fair Trade premium of € 0.50 per kg of dry rubber mass, a regular income is created that helps the smallholders and their families to lead a better life.
FSC®: sustainable agriculture
Behind the FSC® seal is the Forest Stewardship Council®, which was founded to promote environmentally friendly and socially beneficial forest management. All those who prove that they use appropriately certified paper or other products along the entire value chain may advertise with the seal. There are three types of FSC® label that indicate what the product is made of: FSC® 100% (made entirely from FSC® certified forestry), FSC® recycled (made exclusively from recycled materials) and FSC® Mix (a mix of certified and controlled materials). At fair2.me, among other things, many of the cardboard packaging bears the FSC® logo. Most FAIR ZONE products have also been sealed due to the demonstrably sustainably certified raw material natural rubber.
Climate neutrality - Climate Partner
You are no doubt following the discussion about the EU's new "greenwashing" legislation. The focus here is particularly on statements about the climate neutrality of products and companies. FAIR SQUARED has also previously labelled its products as climate-neutral. Together with "Climate Partner", we have consistently implemented this by calculating our CO2 emissions and offsetting them in various projects since 2017. You can find more information about our projects here: climatepartner.com/12554-1801-1001
We were and are convinced that the projects are a sensible way to offset our emissions. Due to the upcoming change in the legal situation in the EU, which will result in extremely high requirements for proof of climate neutrality and thus a considerable bureaucratic effort, we have already refrained from advertising our products and our company with climate-neutral statements since 1 January 2024. Please understand that there are still products with corresponding claims from productions before 2024 in the shops and also in our warehouse. It would be more harmful to the climate to destroy these goods than to sell them. Since 1 January 2024, all our products have been manufactured without corresponding advertising claims on the packaging. Irrespective of this, we as a company remain committed to climate protection and will continue our efforts to minimise climate impact. If you have any questions, please contact us at any time at info@fairsquared.com (as of February 2024)
100 % plastic-free
- The product itself contains no (micro)plastic. This is additionally guaranteed by the NATRUE seal for natural cosmetics.
- The product is packaged 100 % plastic-free. We use glass jars with natural rubber instead of plastic inserts and/or paper packaging.
- All products are also shipped plastic-free. We use upcycled cardboard boxes and paper as filling material as well as paper tape with natural rubber adhesive.
Palm oil free
Zero Waste: Voluntary commitment without seal
Because we care about planet Earth, we are always on the lookout for ways to make our products even more environmentally friendly. As one of these big goals, the topic of "plastic-free" time is at the top of our agenda. With the FAIR SQUARED products, we have found several ways to meet this goal soon: We have changed almost all our packaging to reusable jars, bottles and more containers made of glass. As part of a zero-waste cycle, these are refilled several times. In this way, we are giving each of you the chance to also become an active part of the Zero-Waste movement!