Avoid Greenwashers' False Claims: How Do I Know I'm Buying Green?
(Page 2 of 4)
July/August 2007
By Eric Corey Freed
2. Shop at trusted retailers. Green sales are booming. Small home-improvement stores devoted to sustainability are wonderful resources for safe, eco-friendly materials. Often staffed with enthusiastic and educated salespeople, a green showroom can be a trusted resource.
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3. Ask specific questions about products. In the absence of a green certification or a local eco-retailer who can help you sort out product claims, ask the six simple questions in the sidebar to the left. These questions examine a product’s health and environmental impacts from raw materials to finished item.
You can also find much product information from the manufacturers themselves in the form of a Material Safety and Data Sheet, or MSDS. Request this directly from a retailer or manufacturer, or find it online at the manufacturer’s website or at MSDS Search (www.MSDSsearch.com). Retail store sales representatives might be able to provide some answers. If they don’t know, ask them to find out.
4. Set your priorities. Lastly, if you’re trying to decide between two materials, each with its own positive and negative environmental qualities, you may wish to examine your priorities and list them in the order they’re most important to you. Here’s a potential list:
NATURAL/NONTOXIC: is grown or collected from natural sources instead of mixed from synthetic chemicals
LOW EMBODIED ENERGY: doesn’t require large amounts of energy to manufacture, gather or transport, so it’s relatively non-polluting
SUSTAINABLY HARVESTED: gathered without compromising the health of the source
RECYCLABLE/BIODEGRADABLE: can be made into new products or fed back into the earth
RECYCLED CONTENT: contains a high percentage of materials that used to be something else
LOCALLY HARVESTED: didn’t travel more than 500 miles to reach you
DURABLE: built to last, doesn’t require ongoing maintenance
This article is adapted from Eric Corey Freed’s Green Building for Dummies from Wiley Publishers, to be released this fall.
How Green Is This Material? Ask the following questions:
1. Where did this material come from?
-Is it from natural sources?
-Is it recycled?
2. What are the byproducts of its manufacture?
-Is the manufacturing low in pollution?
-Do we destroy something else to get this material?