Welcome to the „Green World “ of the Austrian Ecolabel

The new school bag should be "cool" and sustainable. With a little luck, you can win an environmentally friendly school bag set in the competition organised by the "Clever shopping for school" initiative.

It should be "nice" and "cool", the new school bag, ideally also made of good material, easy to carry and affordable. The initiative "Clever shopping for school" helps with the right choice and supports parents in buying environmentally friendly school bags and backpacks.

The HAK Lienz is the first educational institution in East Tyrol to be awarded the Austrian Ecolabel. This makes it an ecological pioneer!

At the Fund Congress in Vienna on 8-9 March 2023, the focus was also increasingly on environmental aspects such as climate protection, biodiversity, clean water, greenwashing, ESG, e-mobility, raw material efficiency, impact assessment, sustainable infrastructure and building refurbishment.

"Our service is working," says Sabine Wolfsgruber, Managing Director of umwelt service salzburg, the regional support agency, about the most successful year so far: in 2022, more than 700 consultations were completed by the advisory and support agency for corporate environmental and climate protection - the highest number since the independent association was founded. There was also strong demand for Ecolabel certifications.

Plastics can be found in all areas of everyday life. A new brochure informs about the effects of microplastics on humans and nature and gives helpful tips on how to avoid them.

The forest, they say, heals body and mind. The wilderness throws us back on ourselves and teaches us again the value of nature. A small specialist tour operator from Upper Austria offers unique wilderness tours with intensive nature experiences, track-reading and many an exciting animal observation - and all this in a completely sustainable way and certified with the Ecolabel. We talked to wilderness guide Bernd Pfleger from Experience Wilderness.

This year the Ecolabel Guideline for Financial Products will be revised. Currently, it is planned to include green loans as a new product group in the directive and thus make them certifiable.

The French "Mandarine Gestion" is an independent and entrepreneurial French capital management company founded in 2008 and specialised in equity investments.

These qualities are taught to the pupils at the Gymnasium and Realgymnasium in Seekirchen am Wallersee. The Ambassador School of the European Parliament was certified with the Austrian Ecolabel in 2022.

Making a daily contribution to the environment, successful management, ecological compatibility as well as social responsibility are of particular importance to ÖBB. For this reason, the new location Bildungscampus St.Pölten with seminar hotel was awarded the Austrian Ecolabel for accommodation establishments UZ-200.

The successful motivation and awareness-raising campaign "Austria is cycling" will start a new main season from 20 March to 30 September 2023. Many municipalities, businesses, clubs and schools throughout Austria are already on board as organisers, because cycling is known to make people fit and happy. In addition, they are also committed to climate protection.

Ecolabel licensee Bacher Reisen motivates pupils in Carinthia to travel to school in an environmentally friendly way.

It is well known that bicycle delivery services are vastly superior to trucks (HGVs) and cars in terms of speed and efficiency in inner-city areas.

The Vienna City Card, Vienna's official guest card, was awarded the Austrian Ecolabel at the end of December 2022 for its environmentally friendly mobility offers.

The HLW Bad Ischl offers students the school-autonomous specialisation "Sustainability Management". Saving energy - especially how this can be done - is a very important topic in this committed school!

The heart of the Austrian Circular Economy Strategy is formed by the strategic goals such as the reduction of resource consumption, the avoidance and reduction of waste, the prevention of environmental pollution by pollutants, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as well as four concrete measurable goals.

"Get out of oil and gas" programme will be continued - a total of around two billion euros will be available until 2026.

Mobility behaviour has changed significantly compared to previous years - not least due to the views and needs of young people.

When awarding construction contracts, public authorities can do a lot to raise awareness of the issues of climate protection and the circular economy, while at the same time reducing environmental impacts.

klimaaktiv mobil puts kindergarten and school routes under the microscope - and at no cost!

As a party to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Austria has committed itself to protect biodiversity, to use its components sustainably and to take responsibility for the conservation of global biodiversity.

Read about the Austrian Ecolabel on Kultur Management Network and find a wide range of further information on the cultural sector here.

Does museum work have to be committed to a "better", i.e. more sustainable world? Or are museums places of education and enjoyment? The project "10 Viennese Museums x 17 SDGs" shows that both demands on museums can be met.

Food and communal catering play a special role due to their broad impact and direct influence on the health and well-being of the people being catered for. Ambitious goals have also been set in the government programme, and concrete requirements can be found in the National Action Plan for Sustainable Public Procurement (naBe Action Plan).

"When theatre confronts the questions of its time, it can create meaning across generations. Especially now," explains artistic director of the Salzburg Landestheater, Carl Philip von Maldeghe. The Salzburg Landestheater has faced up to the questions of its time - also with regard to sustainability.

What is "circular economy building"? For example, the Austrian vivihouse project! This is characterised by a modular timber frame construction system. Only renewable raw materials are used for multi-storey buildings.

The concept of the bioeconomy encompasses on the one hand the sources of raw materials (agriculture, forestry, water management and waste) and on the other hand the use of these bio-based raw materials (food and feed, materials, energy). The aim is to create an economic cycle that reconciles technology and ecology.

The first waterproof felt pens were imported to Germany in the 1960s and neon-coloured highlighters were invented there in 1971. The market reacted enthusiastically to the new pens. Half a century later, a new generation is at work and a lot has changed in the products. The share of sustainably produced felt-tip pens and fibre-tip markers is growing, and the accompanying refills are sophisticated and convenient.

Projects at the Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt Vöcklabruck show how environmentally friendly mobility can work. Read here about the commitment of this Upper Austrian Ecolabel school in the field of ecologically responsible transport - which focuses on the good old bicycle.

This is the mission Sto Österreich Ges.m.b.H. is on! Because the technology leader in the field of thermal insulation is pursuing a vision: to make built living spaces more humane and sustainable. One element of this is the StoTherm Wood composite thermal insulation system, which was certified with the Austrian Ecolabel in April 2022. Read more about it here!

The primary school in Leobersdorf demonstrates how climate protection can succeed with "simple" organisational measures.

Recycling plastics is good, but preventing waste in the first place is even better. The Liquid Dispenser 3.0 from umdasch has been certified with the Austrian Ecolabel and is a technically mature system for refilling liquids that for the first time also enables large retail chains to offer an efficient refilling service for reusable packaging. Thanks to the integrated technology, the Liquid Dispenser allows for easy operation.

Producer of exhibition stands "Schiff fair Success" from Vienna was successful in constructing the first environmentally friendly exhibition stand following the criteria of the Austrian Ecolabel UZ75.

Electric cars are becoming more and more popular. They are environmentally friendly, efficient and have lower running costs for a driving school. They also have advantages when learning to drive and therefore it is only logical to use them in driving schools. In a video, Mr Skarabela explains to you exactly why.

"Sustainability is booming - especially in the last two years, because there was time to think about other ways of doing business," says Julia Weger, who advises on Ecolabel processes in Vorarlberg, among other places. "Many have used this difficult time for sustainable change and development. Now we face the challenge of maintaining this drive after Corona," says Weger.

8 October is World Ecolabel Day - the international day for national Ecolabels. Independent, governmental Ecolabels are based on transparent criteria and sound third-party verification and are a credible barrier against greenwashing. What is your opinion? Support your colleagues by answering a short questionnaire.

Not only the strict, transparent criteria and the independently prepared expert opinion ensure that Ecolabel products also deliver what they promise. The Association for Consumer Information (VKI) also tests products from all guidelines for correct use of the Austrian Ecolabel.

While a driver's license allows us to use cars, it does not exclude so-called multimodal mobility, i.e. the use of multiple methods of getting around. The Austrian Ecolabel driving schools are thinking different ...

What does biodiversity mean? What can everyone contribute to the protection of biodiversity? Every contribution is important!

The guideline UZ 72 "Travel Offers" is all about designing sustainable travel offers. It was known long before it came into force in 2008 that man-made climate change is a major problem. And that is also the core of the requirements.

The guideline for tourism and leisure enterprises contains specific requirements for museums. The first mandatory criterion is: "Integration of education for sustainable development into the educational work". What`s about?

In the guideline for tourism and leisure businesses, there is a requirement in criterion UZ 200-F05 to motivate businesses to contribute to the promotion of biodiversity.