Ultimately, the effectiveness of environmental labels and declarations depends on their ability to enable purchasers and potential purchasers to take responsibility for, and make informed choices about, the environmental aspects of their purchasing decisions and to influence purchasers and potential purchasers in their selection of products or services. This, in turn, is related to the degree of acceptance and understanding purchasers and potential purchasers have of the information provided about environmental aspects.
Therefore, parties using environmental labels and declarations have an incentive and a responsibility to provide their purchasers and potential purchasers with access to information so that the purchaser and potential purchaser may understand the meaning of any claim, symbol or term. This can be accomplished through various means, such as advertising, explanatory panels at the retail level, free telephone numbers, and education programmers, among others. The information provided shall be appropriate and sufficient to the nature and scope of the environmental claim being made.