The Green Routine

It’s official. It’s now trendy to go green! You can walk into almost any store and find earth friendly alternatives at every turn. In fact, there’s such an overload of green products you have to wonder… How did manufacturers get all of these products on the market so quick?

They didn’t.

The surge of green products on the shelves is result of aggressive marketing targeted towards the earth conscious green consumer. As it turns out, now is a very bad time to be a green consumer and a very good time to be a green marketer. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has not revised their green marketing guidelines, know as green guides, in 10 years.

The good news is that the green guides are due to be revised in early 2009. The bad news is that for the past 10 years, and even today, it is perfectly legal in the United States to mislead consumers with deceptive product labels, advertising, symbols, and statements.  I hope that you will find this Green Consumer’s Guide helpful in making informed purchases.

Avoid Green Impulse Buys

Because products may legally be deceptively labeled I advise against making any purchases based on labels alone. For example, a product labeled as “natural” may contain toxic synthetic chemicals. A product labeled “unscented” may contain chemical masking scents. Scents designed to mask the smell of chemical ingredients which naturally have unpleasant scents.

We need to educate ourselves as green consumers, and that means doing plenty of research before buying a product with claims to be natural, environmentally friendly, eco-friendly, green, organic, or all natural.

Recycling Label Deception

That little symbol with three chasing arrows on the bottom of every plastic bottle, container, and device is not a recycling symbol. It does not signify that the bottle is made of recycled materials or even recyclable.

This look-alike symbol is the work of the Society of the Plastics Industry and it is know as the SPI resin identification code. The symbol is useful for sorting out what kind of plastic an item is made of. But, you’ll need to find your local recycling center’s website to find out the types of plastic that are recyclable in your area.

Beware of products or product packaging which is branded as being made of a recycled material without itemizing a specific percentage of post-consumer content.  Post-consumer content is an important distinction in recycling that means the materials were collected from green consumers who recycled their garbage.  The higher the percentage of post-consumer content - the better.

Conversely, pre-consumer content would mean that materials used to make the product were never sold to a consumer.  An example of pre-consumer waste would be manufacturing scrap, like paper scraps left over from cutting paper to bind a book.

Beware of Ingredient Omissions

A short list of ingredients is not necessarily a good thing. Manufacturers are not required by law to list all of their ingredients on labels - even if they’re toxic. Nor are they required to provide ingredient lists to curious customers. Long lists of ingredients which can be researched by the consumer are preferable.

However, even if a manufacturer appears to list all of their ingredients you should still proceed with caution. The long list might be omitting toxic chemicals. I never consider my research complete until I have taken a look at the product’s Material Safety Data Sheet or MSDS.

The MSDS is required by law for all products which contain hazardous materials. Manufacturers normally have MSDS on their websites, or they can be requested. SIRI MSDS is an searchable database of MSDS.

Avoid Petroleum Based Ingredients (When Possible)

Unfortunately, most green detergents and cleaners contain small amounts of petroleum.  However, there are many that use mostly vegetable oil.  Cosmetics, and skin care products are also known to contain petroleum.  The trick is to decode the labels and determine which ingredients are petroleum based.   Here is a list of petroleum derived ingredients.

Identify Animal Derived Ingredients

Some chemicals and ingredients are just fancy names for animals parts.  If you have would have an aversion to rubbing cow hearts or connective tissue on your face, then you might want to avoid collagen and elastin. Is the calcium in your vitamins coming from ground up animal bones? Better check the VegFamily list of animal derived ingredients to find out.

Does the Manufacturer Test on Animals?

No manufacturer will ever admit to animal testing on their label.  If you are against animal testing of products, then you will want to ensure the manufacturer of the green products you are considering do not test on animals.  Believe it or not, some companies have the nerve to call themselves green and continue to perform animal testing.

Be Wary of Unqualified Statements

The FTC warns us to beware of vague or general claims on product labels. For instance claims such as “environmentally friendly” or “eco-safe” might look good in writing, but have no meaning or value behind them.  A better way to determine if the green claims the manufacturer makes on the label are true is to look for proof of third party certification of these claims.

Look for Third Party Certification

Some claims are difficult to vet on your own. Is that organic cotton diaper really made of organic cotton? Does this lumber really come from a renewable wood source? Unless you were able to regularly inspect the companies sources you’d have a hard time finding out for sure. That’s where third party certifications come in.

Here are some of the popular third party certifications:

Designed for the Environment – Introduced by the US Envir­onmental Protection Agency (EPA) to indicate that products contain environmentally preferable ingredients.  This label can be used on green cleaning products and detergents.

Energy Star – An EPA certification whose goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.  This is the certification to look for when buying a green appliance.

Forest Stewardship Council – Products that bear the FSC logo are guaranteed to contain wood or wood products harvested from a certified, well-managed forest.  This logo is most often found on green building products.

Green Seal – Aims to reduce the environmental impacts tied to the use, manufacture, and disposal of products and services.

Greenscapes - This EPA logo appears on green landscaping products and signifies that the product is designed to be environmentally friendly by preserving natural resources, and by reducing waste and pollution.

LEED – Promotes sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, sustainable materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.  This certification is applied to buildings, and not on individual products.

Quality Assurance International Certified Organic- The QAI Certification Program is designed to certify every step of the organic chain: From the land on which the product is grown; to the processing and handling facilities transforming the product to prepare it for store shelves.  This certification can appear on anything from clothing manufactured from organic fibers to organic foods.

USDA organic certification means that all the ingredients are grown in a manner that models natural systems through promoting biological diversity, recycling of nutrients, and replenishing soil fertility without the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers.  This label is applied to organic foods and fibers.

Water Sense – An EPA logo which certifies that the product is water efficient. The product bearing a water sense label is at least 20% more efficient than an average product in it’s category and meets these other guidelines.

Here are just some of the logos of third party certification programs listed above.  These logos are proof positive that the company did not make up its claims and had a reliable third party evaluate their products and services.   I will be posting additional logos once I obtain permission from the trademark holders.

How Can I Avoid Being Duped?

Educate yourself about companies and the products they are trying to sell before handing them a cent. The internet is a good starting point to perform your research. If it’s a local company you are investigating, start your search at your local newspaper or news channels website. Local news agencies are known to vehemently pursue scams. If it’s a national company, or product, Google it. Look up some customer opinions. Are customer’s satisfied with the products or services?

Never believe what you read on a “green product” label is anything more than greenwashing or green marketing drivel before researching the product on your own.  Who knew going green was going to be so hard?