MIDEASTENVIRONET - The Middle East Environmental Network

Indeed, it appears that all you have to do to get the sticker, which sports the words "Environmental Protection" in Hebrew and "Guardians of the Environment" in English, is pay a fee.

"This fact does not keep many respected and well-known companies from posting [the sign] on their products with pride, thereby giving their products validity as being 'green' and environmentally friendly, without the matter being looked into at all," said Moti Sela, head of the industry and business licensing department in the Environment Ministry. "Thus, for instance, you can find the symbol on Zuriel soy milk packages, Sano toilet paper and paper towels, Aqua Nova water bottles, and even Yes satellite dishes and that's just a partial list.

"There is nothing behind this non-profit organization," said Sela. "It has no connection with or right to represent the Environment Ministry or the Israel Standards Institute, and it has no authority to grant any kind of symbol or approval that indicates environmental friendliness. The only symbol that is legal and accepted by the State of Israel is the green mark of the Standards Institute."

Fighting the green star

Sela said the Environment Ministry, the Israel Standards Institute and the merchants association have recently decided to fight the green Star of David and that the ministry's legal advisers and the Standards Institute are looking into the matter. He said members of the merchants association will soon receive a letter stating that "the mark is not recognized by any authority."

Becher, who teaches law at the Peres Academic Center in Rehovot, said products are not allowed to bear unapproved signs liable to create the impression that they meet a specific standard. "The findings demonstrate that consumers cannot take everything written on products seriously," he said. "Companies and interest groups apparently make cynical and manipulative use of the natural confidence consumers place in symbols and inspection or supervisory groups considered to be objective."

The group behind the green Star of David stamp is a non-profit organization called Efronim ("Larks") Guardians of the Environment. It is involved in bird-watching and environmental issues as well as commercial activity, including marketing the green Star of David to companies. For NIS 2,000, companies can purchase the right to use the symbol for two years, starting on the date they sign an agreement. The benefit the companies derive is spelled out: "Receiving the 'green Star of David' allows your company to be among the select ones that use the symbol... to promote the image of your business and your company." So far, more than 200 companies have signed up for the symbol, according to Efronim publicity materials.

Efronim's marketing brochure even states that the association commits to establishing a public council comprised of a wide range of public figures, which will appoint a professional committee to set criteria for use of the green Star of David symbol. The brochure lists 10 such criteria, and states that an inspection committee will be established to allow for complaints against companies that use the symbol but damage the environment. However, TheMarker's investigation has shown that none of these statements appears to have been put into practice.

"This misleads the public, which sees the symbol and feels it can rely on such a statement," said Dr. Nitzan Eyal, environment coordinator for the Israel Standards Institute. "When they write 'Environmental Protection' beneath the symbol and link it to protection in connection with bird-watching activity, that is very improper."

A product itself

Eyal said the green Star of David symbol was a product in its own right.

"Essentially, this symbol is a product that is sold to whoever is prepared to pay," he said. "I do not know of any tests carried out on behalf of the group on the organizations or products that receive the symbol. Actually, a manager of a company that had received an offer to join the green Star of David came to me ? his company is the blackest of black from the environmental perspective and only because he is an honest man, he refused."

The Efronim association clearly could not have grown without the cooperation of the factories and companies it had dealings with. We contacted the customer service numbers of some of the companies whose products we found on store shelves, bearing the green Star of David, and asked about its significance; but the customer service employees said they had no idea. In some cases, company representatives called back and said the symbol indicates that the manufacturing process was environmentally friendly.?

We contacted the companies Sano, Tempo (Aqua Nova), Yes, Zuriel Dairy Farm, Iscar and Egged and asked them whether they had undergone any tests to receive the green Star of David symbol, what those tests were, how much they paid for use of the symbol and if they are still being supervised.

Sano and Zuriel chose not to respond, and two other companies did not directly answer the questions. Yes said, "No payment was required for the symbol, and the Yes [satellite] dishes are dishes that only absorb with radiation equal to that of a dish of soup."

Tempo (Aqua Nova) said, "We are proud to display the environmental protection [symbol] on our bottle labels, due to the fact that we use the state's central drinking water reservoir, while other water brands use and damage natural treasures to produce the product. The second reason is the fact that we are the only company among the bottled water brands to use a clear bottle and not a blue one [with the blue ones being more difficult to use after recycling]."

We received only a partial response to our questions from Efronim, which said that companies did not pay for the green Star of David symbol, but rather donated money to the organization.

"The green Star of David symbol is comparable to the green mark of the Standards Institute," Efronim said in a statement. The association said that all the companies receiving the symbol must have a valid business license and must comply with the ISO 14000 international environmental management standards.

The association said that when the Efronim founder was still alive, "He would check every business on his own before giving it the symbol." However, the founder and guiding spirit of the group, Danny Montag, died some 18 months ago, and it is now headed by his widow, Aviva Montag, and another member of the organization, Ami Shidlovitzky. Haim Lahat is in charge of marketing for the group.

"We are a non-profit organization run in accordance with the law," Efronim said. "Every agora goes toward the environment. We give the symbol to those who contribute to the organization. The companies don't pay us, but donate to us, and not a single shekel goes into the pocket of anyone in the association. Everyone here is a volunteer. This is not a Standards Institute symbol. All in all, it shows that the factory supports the environment."

Efronim said it had received a certificate and symbol from the Environment Ministry for the association's bird-watching activity, but that it was not using that symbol for the green Star of David project. The association said individual companies, not Efronim, were responsible for any deception of the public, saying, "If someone is misleading the consumer, it is the company that prints the logo when it knows exactly what purpose it got it for."

Efronim also sent TheMarker documents detailing its environmental activity, almost all from the mid-90s.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/827265.html