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The LOFAmark accreditation scheme

LOFAmark (which is a working title) will be an environmental and ethical accreditation scheme that will apply to the various types of garden furniture and barbecues that our members sell.  It will clearly identify the major environmental issue that applies to each product, confirms that the product conforms to minimum acceptable standards and, where appropriate, shows the level of environmental impact the product has had.

LOFAmark will benefit the environment, consumers, LOFA members, their retail stockists, and the economies in which our supplier businesses operate.

The scheme will help the environment in three ways.  Firstly, it will require LOFA members to withdraw from the market any product that is environmentally unacceptable. Secondly, it will make it easier for consumers to identify and choose products that are better for the environment.  Finally, it will enhance the ability of, and incentive for, LOFA members to progressively change their product range and business practices to be more environmentally benign.

By ensuring that raw materials are sourced ethically, and that suppliers in developing countries adhere to ethical working practices, the scheme will benefit the societies and environment of developing countries.

The scheme will provide consumers with a clear and understandable way to ensure that their purchase choices take into account their own concerns for the environment.  Through choice editing it will also mean that consumers can be confident that any product covered by the scheme complies with minimum acceptable standards.

Finally, the scheme will benefit LOFA members, and the retailers who stock them, by making accredited products more attractive to increasingly environmentally aware consumers.