Green button: What the clothing seal means

The green button wants to join the now endless series of consumer seals. Of course, like all other seals, the green button should stand for the good and show the consumer the environmentally correct way.

The green button - that's what the new textile seal wants to stand for

It looks nice, the green button and the symbolism are obvious at first glance: green for ecologically correct and button for clothing. So far, so good, but what does the green button really say?

• The green button was announced as the symbol for textiles that were produced under fair conditions. And from this year on, the green button should adorn the first items of clothing.
• The German development ministry is behind the green button that the companies want to commit to minimum social and ecological standards in the production of clothing. Initially, this should be done on a voluntary basis, but the Ministry of Development is striving for legislation that applies across Europe.
• Together with the Ministry of Development, the textile alliance is developing the guidelines for awarding the green button. Companies and organizations have come together to form the so-called textile alliance, which want to work together against the sometimes bad working conditions in the clothing industry.
• For example, companies that belong to the German textile alliance and are willing to comply with the agreed social and ecological standards are to receive the seal.

The green button - that's what the new clothing seal stands for

First of all, the green button only stands for the minimum social and ecological standards for the final production of textiles.

• Given the fact that most textiles go through well over 100 production stations, this doesn't seem like a great deal. Strictly speaking, the path of many textiles begins with the sowing and harvesting of organic cotton before the path continues to the many different production sites. These countless previous production processes are to be included in the evaluation successively from 2021.
• Apart from that, the green button - at least for the time being - cannot be awarded as an independent seal. The textiles need a further seal in advance, such as the EU Ecolabel, Fairtrade, Blue Angel or Naturland.
• This means: The green button can only be awarded as an additional seal if the textiles already meet the social and ecological quality criteria of other recognized seals.
• Conclusion: So far, the green button seems to raise innumerable questions and contribute significantly more to the confusion of consumers in the seal jungle than to the highly acclaimed simplification.

If you are interested in what organic seals are available in Germany, you should definitely read on.