Made to Order - Self Declared is one of the declarations under the Ekko Score Artisan & Professional Standard.
Products that are Made to Order are literally as described, and may be hand made or not. Made to Order used to be products like a hand made wedding cake, but increasingly, with Artisan and Zero Waste focused producers, it could also be a pair of glasses made from recycled plastic that are literally printed as orders come in; or made to order clothing and body products. Made to Order applies at an individual product level, but may also apply to an entire product run. A common example of a made to order product run is one that is crowd funded ahead of manufacturing.
Made to Order allows a trader to keep both cost and waste to an absolute minimum. Traditionally traders were motivated by the financial practicality of simply making specific product for supply, but many traders are now additionally motivated by creating less unnecessary waste, in many cases, aimed to zero waste.
Made to Order - Self Declared sits in the LIMITED PRODUCTION Family, under the Societal Standard: Artisan & Professional of Ekko Score. One set of Ekko Score points are gathered from each Family.
These are the claimable declarations & certifications under the Societal Standard: Artisan & Professional. 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 No Exploitation 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.