"First came lumber certified as environmentally friendly, then seafood. Now a move is afoot to give gravel -- blasted out of open-pit mines, then hauled out using diesel-belching trucks -- the green seal of approval.

In a move that will test the outer limits of the green-products concept, the Canadian unit of Holcim Ltd., the Swiss-based cement giant, and advocacy group Environmental Defence will announce Wednesday that they’re establishing a certification standard for aggregates, which they claim would be the toughest in the world in setting stringent conditions on quarrying.

The effort by the company is an attempt to defuse some of the vociferous opposition from community groups that typically accompanies almost all new gravel pits being proposed in Canada, and at many existing quarries."

Martin Mittelstaedt reports for the Toronto Globe and Mail June 1, 2011. [2]