Biodynamic - Self Declared is one of the declarations under the Ekko Score Organic - Chemical Free Standard.
Biodynamic agriculture is a holistic method of organic farming that takes into account the entire ecosystem of a farm - specific diversity in the animals, the plants, soils, compost to bring health and nutrition to the entire farm.
Biodynamic farms bring both plants and animals together to work in collaboration, allowing plants to be grown in the ground in living soil, animals to eat them and return waste to the ground, providing a quality of health and nutrition not possible with single stream farming and chemical fertilizers. Each biodynamic farm or garden is an integrated, whole, living thing, made up of the interdependent elements of fields, forests, plants, animals, soils, compost, people, and harmony.
Biodynamic - Self Declared sits in the BIODYNAMIC Family under the Environmental Standard: Organic - Chemical Free of Ekko Score. One set of weighted Ekko Score points are gathered from each Family.
These are the claimable declarations & certifications under the Environmental Standard: Organic - Chemical Free . Please note that different certifications and declarations may be relevant to each category.
Yes, where the impact of the claim is similar. This is how it works.
IMPORTANTLY, SELF DECLARATIONS ARE GOVERNED BY CONSUMER LAW. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR BUSINESSES TO MAKE FALSE CLAIMS (INCLUDING IMPLIED CLAIMS IN A CONTEXT LIKE EKKO SCORE).
EVEN IF A PRODUCT HAS A FORMAL CERTIFICATION, THAT CERTIFICATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ENTIRE INTEGRITY OF THE PRODUCT'S MAKE UP.
An example might be a Handmade, Australian, Certified Organic chocolate that contains Palm Oil. Under Ekko Score, this product would claim Certified Organic and would self declare: Zero Waste Production and Australian made, but could not claim the No Palm Oil declaration. This would mean a lower score under the Organic - Chemical Free Standard, making the inclusion of Palm Oil clear to potential consumers, without detracting from its other assets.
No product is perfect, but some products are definitely better than others. Ekko Score allows you to make the best decision you can, or to put it another way, the least worst decision. And to make that decision with the confidence of not being green washed. Find out more about how Ekko Score works.