The Green Castle Certification standard is based on natural ingredients, safety, responsibility and sustainability:

• Complied with the European Union’s Cosmetics Directive, widely considered the global gold standard of cosmetics safety regulation.
• Disclosed all ingredients, including chemicals in “fragrance,” a complex mix of ingredients found in 40 percent of all personal care products; in the U.S., the components of “fragrance” can be shielded as a trade secret, even when the chemical cocktail contains hormone disruptors, carcinogens and other harmful substances.
• Natural Ingredients: A product labeled “natural” should be made up of only, or at least almost only, natural ingredients and be manufactured with appropriate processes to maintain ingredient purity.
• Safety: A product labeled “natural” should avoid any ingredient with a suspected human health risk.
• Responsibility: A product labeled “natural” should use no animal testing in its development.
• Sustainability: A product labeled “natural” should use biodegradable ingredients and the most environmentally sensitive packaging.

Certification is voluntary. Any entity conducting a business for which a standard exists may ask to have its products or services certified. Certification is awarded for a limited period, during which the certifying body carries out monitoring. To award certification, the certifying body must itself be accredited.

Castle Baths,  is the only certifier for Green Castle Certification in America.  the Green Castle standard comes with many benefits.

Benefits

Why choose the Green Castle Certification for your business?

The Green Castle Certification (GCC) is the most trusted all natural bath and body product certification for humans and pets. Choosing to become Green Castle Certified may enable your business to:

• Attract an ever growing ethical consumer market
• Build shopper confidence in your brand, creating or maintaining a positive ethical profile
• Implement effective supplier monitoring processes, and verify cruelty free claims to shoppers via a system of independent audits
• Demonstrate your commitment to cruelty free principles with your existing business practices
• Introduce your products to a wider choice of ethical consumer products to markets
• Encourage investment into scientific alternatives that are more ethical and accurate than animal testing.
• Access to new customers and valuable niche markets
• Increased customer loyalty
• Potential for increased profitability
• Valuable brand enhancement
• Access fast-growing local, regional, and international markets
• Support local economies

Bonus: Placed in our CS Splash Network

Our science-based standards provide the road map you need to improve your sustainability and earn third-party certification from one of the most respected ecolabels in the industry.

The Green Castle Seal on your products or services is an instant indicator that they have met or exceeded leadership-level, life-cycle-based criteria for sustainability. Purchasers, facility managers, meeting planners, and consumers everywhere look for — and often require — the Green Castle Seal because they know it equals environmental and health excellence.

Eligibility

In order to obtain Green Castle Certification, and remain certified, your company must demonstrate that it meets our core criteria:

• Apply a fixed cut-off date after which none of your products or ingredients are tested on animals
• Establish procedures for verifying the strict implementation of your fixed cut-off date with product manufacturers and raw ingredients suppliers to monitor your supply chains
• Adopt an animal testing policy verified by Cruelty-Free, Leaping Bunny
• Your company sells consumer products that fall under the definition of either Personal Care, Cosmetics or Household cleaning products
• These products are your own label/ brand ranges and not owned by another company
• You are not an agent, distributor or manufacturer acting on behalf of a third party without their express written permission and direct contact details
• If you are a manufacturer, you may apply for non-transferable certification of your own label certifiable consumer products. There are no Leaping Bunny ‘certified’ manufacturers, because a company may change manufacturers or source various items from differing manufacturers. For this reason, each company must apply for certification in its own right, even where a manufacturer has certification for their own brand products.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

COST: There is no cost to apply for this program. Our goal is to help educate the Public while helping Green Business’ succeed!

Bonus: You will be invited to join our complimentary Castle Baths Splash program which offers tailored promotional and marketing support for your Green Castle Certification Seal. Your certified product or service will be subject to periodic compliance monitoring to underscore our shared commitment to quality and the high standards of the Green Castle Certification Seal.

Other Seals of Possible Interest to you and your company

1. The USDA Organic seal represents the highest standard for organic food and personal care products in the United States. This seal means that a product contains at least 95% organically produced ingredients, and the remaining ingredients are approved by the National List.
2. Established in France in 1991, Ecocert inspects and certifies the practices of organic farming. In 2003 they developed a standard for natural and organic cosmetics to contain at least 95% natural ingredients – “No GMOs, parabens, phenoxyethanol, ingredients derived from petrochemicals or synthetic chemistry, nanoparticles, silicon, PEG, synthetic perfumes and dyes, animal-derived ingredients (unless naturally produced, such as milk, honey, etc.)”* No testing of the finished product may be done on animals.
3. NPA developed its Natural Standard with a recognizable seal to help consumers make choices and identify that a product is truly “natural.” Personal and home care products certified under the NPA Natural Standard must contain at least 95 percent natural ingredients, derived from a renewable resource found in nature (flora, fauna, mineral), and must not contain any petroleum compounds.
4. Vegan Action/Vegan Awareness Foundation – Helps consumers easily identify vegan products without having to read ingredient labels. This seal also means that the product does not contain animal products or by-products and is not tested on animals. Products holding this seal cannot contain any known animal-derived GMO’s or genes in the making of the product.
5. Developed by NSF International, NSF/ANSI 305 is the only American National Standard that verifies at least 70% of a personal care product’s ingredients are organic. This certification is considered a “best practice” by the Organic Trade Association. Founded in 1944, NSF International is one of the most respected independent certification organizations in existence today.
6. Leaping Bunny Certification- Internationally recognized logo for cruelty-free standard. This certification verifies that no animal testing is used during any phase of the development of the product.
7. COSMEBIO® originated in 2002 for cosmetics. The BIO label, their highest certification, guarantees the product complies with environmental standards. The criteria is that at least 95% of natural ingredients are derived from natural sources, and organic farming produces 95% of any plant ingredients. Products with the COSMEBIO label are produced using strictly controlled green manufacturing processes, and are subject to strict inspections carried out by independent certification bodies.