Label launches for products made with wind energy

The WindMade organization has launched the first global consumer label for products made with wind energy. Brussels, Belgium-based WindMade is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of renewable energy by improving companies' ability to communicate their wind energy investments to their stakeholders.

The WindMade Product Label can be applied to all products using a minimum share of 75% of renewable energy in their total electricity consumption, with wind power representing the largest share. A cradle-to-gate approach was adopted, which means that the label will cover the entire power consumption for all product components, from the extraction of the raw materials all the way to the product leaving the factory gate.

"The WindMade product label provides consumers with the transparency they demand, and with a credible and intuitive tool to make informed purchasing decisions," says Henrik Kuffner, WindMade's CEO. "And in addition, it gives companies an instrument to tap into this large pool of environmentally conscious consumers."

On the occasion of the label launch, WindMade is calling on consumers to show their support for wind power by participating in the Show You Care campaign, aimed at demonstrating to leading brands that consumers around the world favor products manufactured with renewable energy.

According to Windmade, a recent study, Global Consumer Wind Study 2012, polling 24,000 consumers in 20 countries showed that 73% of consumers around the world would have a more positive perception of a brand if it used wind power as their primary energy source.

"Now it is time for consumers to speak out. We know that they care, and we know that they want to see more companies using wind power. With our campaign, we invite them to actively show their support, and to put pressure on their favorite brands to use this clean, emissions-free energy source for manufacturing our most beloved products," says Angelika Pullen, WindMade's Communications Director, who is managing the campaign.

"WWF fully supports this label as a way to recognize companies for their efforts while empowering consumer choice. The cradle-to-gate approach ensures that the label is meaningful, and it makes it robust and credible to consumers," says Susanne Fratzscher, Senior Advisor on Renewable Energy of WWF's Global Climate and Energy Initiative, and a member of WindMade's Technical Committee.

To participate in the campaign, consumers are invited to send in photos of their favourite products to carry the WindMade label, and spreading the word on social networks using the #ShowYouCare hashtag on Twitter and Facebook and sharing the campaign video.