HL Deb 09 May 2002 vol 634 cc193-5WA
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which part of their Are You Doing Your Bit? campaign addresses the impact of consumer products. [HL4117]

Lord Whiitty

The campaign uses a variety of channels to raise public awareness of environmental issues and the scope for individuals to help reduce the negative impacts of consumption. The campaign's activities include advertising, direct marketing and other forms of public relations. Most of the messages conveyed have a bearing on the purchase, use or disposal of products, in varying degrees. For example, Defra's Are You Doing Your Bit? stand at the recent Ideal Home show featured the energy labelling of household goods; sustainable timber; and farmers' markets. Other recent activities have aimed to promote household recycling of products and their packaging.

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the annual funding for their Are You Doing Your Bit? campaign. [HL4118]

Lord Whitty

Recent expenditure on the campaign has been undertaken both by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. The provisional outturn for the financial year 2001–02 is approximately £1 million.

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What leaflets they have produced to inform consumers about the environmental impact of consumer products and about misleading "green" claims; how such leaflets are distributed; and what agreements they have with the retail sector to distribute these leaflets at point of sale.[HL4119]

Lord Whitty

The Government have produced a number of leaflets to assist consumers in this area.

The Green Claims Code sets out the standard of information that the public can expect to be given about the environmental impacts of consumer products. The leaflet Hi, I'm Green is a simple guide for consumers on the most commonly occurring environmental claims on products and explains what claims to look for and how to ask for further information. Both the code and leaflet have been distributed widely among retailers, manufacturers, trade associations, advertising agencies, trading standards officers and local authority Agenda 21 co-ordinators, who have been asked for help in disseminating the information to consumers. The Hi, I'm Green leaflet has been distributed through Are You Doing Your Bit? road-shows, at conferences and through Safeway stores, which first stocked the leaflet at their customer helpdesks during autumn 2001.

The leaflet Energy labels for refrigeration and washing appliances—helping you make the right choice explains the information contained in EU energy labels displayed at the point of sale on new refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, electric tumble dryers, combined washer-dryers and dishwashers. This leaflet has been widely distributed to retailers and is available in most electrical outlets.

The leaflet Pick the flower—the ecolabel promotes the EU ecolabelling scheme. It is offered to the manufacturers of all ecolabelled products on sale in the UK to help them explain the scheme to their customers. A separate leaflet The Ecolabel for Soil Improvers has also been produced and sent to the distributors of ecolabelled soil improver to help retailers explain and promote the labelled products.

All of these leaflets are available free from Defra and are also on the Defra website. They are promoted in the course of regular contacts with business, manufacturing and consumer organisations. The department also works with other organisations on material to promote environmentally preferable products. A leaflet A guide to better shopping was produced last year in partnership with the WWF Sustainability Action Network and has been distributed to customers of Barclays, to members of WWF and through Are You Doing Your Bit? events.

Copies of these leaflets have been placed in the Library of the House.