Rosewicket Wicca Coven

I found this on anotehr forum, posted by someone else, content by John Tesh

How Can You Tell If You're Buying a Truly Green Product?

Think you’re saving the planet by going green? Not necessarily! Why? Because a lot of so-called “green” products aren’t green at all! So, why do we think they’re green? According to Time magazine, it’s because of “greenwash” - short for “green hogwash”. It’s a new term for misleading ads about a product’s environmental benefits. The phrase was coined by the firm Terra Choice – which evaluated the green claims of over 1-thousand products. The result: Only one fully lived up to the green claims. That’s one out of 1,000 products. In fact, companies are making so many false and misleading claims, the Federal Trade Commission is holding hearings to sort out the difference between genuine environmental claims – and empty greenwash. Until they make a decision, how can you tell if you’re buying a truly green product? Here are the signs you’re being greenwashed:

They promote one aspect of a product as environmentally-friendly and ignore the downside. For example, they advertise a paper product as coming from a sustainably-harvested forest, but they don’t mention the impact of making it and transporting it thousands of miles to market.

The second sign: There’s no proof. For example, personal care products like shampoos and conditioners that claim not to have been tested on animals, but offer no evidence to prove it. The proof – or lack of proof - can be found on legitimate third-party certification websites, like EcoLogo, Green Guard or Green Seal.

They use vague and meaningless terms never defined by the government. Like claiming something’s “nontoxic” when anything can be toxic if misused. Or saying something’s “all-natural” when snake venom is all-natural, too!

It’s also greenwash if a claim is irrelevant. For example, a product says it’s chlorofluorocarbon free. The ozone-destroying chemical has been banned for years – and they’re basically asking you to applaud them for obeying the law.

They go for the lesser of two evils. In other words, the claim is narrowly true but ignores larger environmental problems – like green SUVs. Green or not, SUVs still pollute more than a subcompact car.

If you’d like to see if the products you use are actually green, check out the website GreenwashingIndex.com.

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I will say that no product - green or otherwise- will advertise the negatives, but be sure you still pay attention to the downsides of the product. 'It may be made from organic pam oil, but was it gorwn on the plantations in the rain forest killing apes?' 'It is made from recycled paper, but how much processing has it gone through?' often, you can tell these things by seeing how processed the product seems or reading labels. Ask these things, they are important.

I'd also like to point out that taking into consideration how many miles your products have traveled is important.  Want to lower your carbon footprint?  Buy local goods.  Food transport takes up an insane amount of gasoline (read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver for more information on how much food really costs environmentally).  Not to mention, buying local will help sustain your local economy.  The only way to guarentee what your getting is green is to grow it or make it yourself...and even then you can run into some bumps. 

I feel, and this many not be factually accurate as this is purely my opinion, that big companies that have recently gone 'green' haven't changed much in their policies or products.  I try to go with products that were claiming environmentally-friendly and safe before the new wave of 'greenwashing'.

If you don't mind, and feel free to take this out since it will be off topic a bit, greenwasing ties in with a mine planning to go into the area around my city.  The mining company claims that they will make sure all the tailings are taken care of and that their mine will be environmentally-friendly--almost the antithesis of a mine.  Sadly enough, people are falling for the campaign.  Sometimes, common sense and a little bit of history is enough to reveal 'greenwashing' that companies do.  It probably won't be as blatant as what this mine has done, but keep a wary eye, like Chi said.

Yes, I agree. Always try to find local produce, and close by cage-free hormone-free meat. It's better for you and saves energy. sometimes organic local produce many only be available certain months of the year, but you can still stock up and freeze it. Even local farmer's markets, which happen all over the place, will carry organic local produce, and there's one in every city where I live. Also, eating seasonally decreased the "food miles" in your food - berries and melons in summer, oranges and grapefruit in the winter, and so on. It also really helps you get in sync with the seasons, I think, I'm surprised more Pagans don't do it - after all, the seasons where based around agriculture for such a long time, we don't want to loose the significance.

I notice too, that a lot of "gone green" companies have only slightly changed their products, if at all. Like "Clean Coal" - okay, this 'clean coal' might be a little better than the old stuff, but there is no such thing as CLEAN coal, it is still releasing tons of CO2 into the atmosphere and we have enough of that.

I find that the greenest products can usually be found in your home. My mom came home one day with a new green window wash, actually the most eco-friendly one she's found - it was just vinegar, water, and scent.

Natural Beauty at Home by Janie Cox is a good book for anyone interested in natural body care, and it has great tips in general!