ecológico
adjectiveCEFR B1
What does “ecológico” mean in English?
ecological / organic
ecological / organic (relating to ecology; or organically grown without synthetic pesticides — impacto ecológico, productos ecológicos, certificado ecológico)
Example sentences
Comprar alimentos ecológicos es una buena idea, pero no siempre es suficiente si luego se transportan desde el otro lado del mundo.
Buying organic food is a good idea, but it is not always sufficient if it is then transported from the other side of the world.
El impacto ecológico de esta empresa ha mejorado desde que empezó a usar energías renovables en su producción.
The ecological impact of this company has improved since it started using renewable energies in its production.
Hay una certificación ecológica europea que garantiza que un producto se ha cultivado sin pesticidas sintéticos.
There is a European organic certification that guarantees a product has been grown without synthetic pesticides.
How to use it
Ecológico / ecológica means 'ecological' or 'organic' depending on context — (1) relating to ecology or the environment (impacto ecológico, huella ecológica); (2) organically grown without synthetic pesticides (productos ecológicos, certificado ecológico). The two senses coexist at B1. In food contexts, ecológico is the consumer-facing label (like 'organic' in English). The related noun is la ecología.
Common mistake
The food-labelling sense (ecológico = organic) is dominant in everyday shopping discourse. In the EU, the official Spanish term for certified organic is producción ecológica or agricultura ecológica, so ecológico on a food label is equivalent to 'organic' in English. Some Latin American countries use biológico (similar to the EU's 'bio' label in French/Italian/German) — do not use biológico expecting it to mean organic in Spain.