I am a retailer, what should I be doing... Asking for (or not)?
Probably the most important thing, besides learning the index yourself, is to ask all the brands who sell to you if they:

• are aware of the eco index
• have become competent at using the index tools
• have changed practices, materials, or other aspects of product as a result of their learnings

Should you ask for their scores? This is a difficult question. If a brand shows a retail customer their index scores then it demonstrates that they are using the index tools and this promotes transparency. That is a good thing. However, at the same time it could breed the likelihood of inflated results as no brand really wants to look “bad” in the eyes of its customer. These tools will be most effective if there is incentive for the self-scorer to be very critical and honest in their evaluation. Creating an incentive to inflate a score does not allow for the primary objective—learning and improvement—to take place. Clearly, however, if a brand is making environmental claims about their products it is well within a retailer’s right and responsibility to ask for evidence. The advantage of the eco index, the eco framework, and other tools created by this project is that now there is a common “language” where disclosure can be put in context with all other claims. 
 
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