by drew riley

probably the most obvious blog title but appropriate nonetheless.  what is green anyway?  who makes the rules?  who determines who’s following them?  sure, we’re all concerned about the environment and want to make choices that won’t harm it in any way, but can we really rely on something solely because it has a “green” label.  the simple answer is… no.

as Americans we want to be efficient.  we don’t want to waste our time researching every product we buy or service we pay for.  product manufacturers and service providers are counting on that mentality and using the word “green” (and sometimes just the color) in their promotional materials and on packaging to appeal to our desire to be environmentally conscious.  we like buying “green”, we may seek things “green”,  but this designation is as individual as fingerprints and to endorse anything simply because it’s “green” is not enough.

the truth is there are few regulations in place for deciding what’s “green”.  there are some great private and federal institutions that help us, like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC wood certification) and the USDA (organic food certification), but to gain this certification is often expensive.  to only make purchases certified by one agency or another would limit your choices significantly and cause you to overlook some otherwise wonderful companies who devote themselves to a “greener” way of doing business.  don’t get me wrong, its great to have the FSC and the USDA creating standards  and we can breathe a sigh of relief when we see their seals, but we have to know that there are other options out there for us.

any company can claim their product or service is green.  they don’t even have to give you a reason why and often we buy and feel good about it.  just because a vase is made out of recycled plastic doesn’t mean that it’s good for the planet.  do you really need a recycled plastic vase?  is there no other suitable material for containing water and making flower arrangements in?  what if the vase is made locally by developmentally disabled adults in your community?  what then?  is it “green” now?  The point here is that there is no unquestionable method for making a “green” determination and we’ll all be better off if we just consider “green”… a color.

we need to train ourselves to ask multiple questions in the supermarket, department store, or online and not just “is it green?”.  below are some things i think about, admittedly maybe too much, that help me make decisions:

made in where? i love to buy local products or utilize local services.  Doing this stimulates our immediate economy and supports our neighbors.  buying product from far away means a bigger carbon footprint and often questionable manufacturing practices.

organic?  it’s wonderful to buy an organic cucumber, but it’s better to buy a cucumber from a local farmer who doesn’t use pesticides.  check out your neighborhood farmer’s market.  most of these farmers can back up their organic claims by allowing you to visit their farm.  even if you can’t spend the day in the corn fields, the very fact that it’s an option for you is a good sign.  small farmers often cant afford to become USDA organic certified and we shouldn’t fault them for that.

who’s the fairest?  the world economy plays a major role in the success of business in the developing world.  it’s up to us to buy items that were made by people working in clean, safe facilities and paid a fair wage.  the World Fair Trade Organization and similar associations offer us standards that we can trust.  we should remember, however, not to overlook those that cant afford the certification process but conform to the standards just the same.  our global economy should be a social economy.

i’m touched.  never underestimate the good done by buying products made or services rendered by hand.  machines are great and they make life easier for us all, but they emit pollutants and waste natural resources.  a hand knit scarf is carbon neutral (well if the yarn is handspun wool from a local farm, but you get the picture).  You’re also supporting a valuable craft often industrialized to the point of extinction.

materialistic.   we live in a time of limitless materials. plastics have enriched our lives in many ways and recycling plastic is a great way to continue to use this stuff without producing more.  plastics that have been repurposed (i.e. not processed before becoming a new item) are even better.  renewable, organic, and biodegradable materials are always best and increasingly available.

these are just a few thoughts.  the truth is, most of us don’t get the time or opportunity to visit local farms or women’s collectives in Bolivia.  the point here is to ask questions.  sometimes the answers are there on the label and sometimes you might have to vocalize your concerns to the man behind the counter.  we all have different ideas of what’s “green” and our personal convictions may motivate us in different directions.  we can’t be too quick to trust the sustainability of a given product or service.  there will never be a comprehensive labeling system for “green” things and there shouldn’t be.  there are just too many considerations.  we all need to understand and accept how complicated being socially and environmentally responsible is and stop looking for the simple answer. that answer doesn’t exist and a “green” label might not be worth the petroleum-based ink used to print it.

+ share or save this post

tags: eco friendly, environment, fair, fsc, green, green washing, handmade, organic, Recycled, usda

this entry was posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 10:39 am and is filed under general. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed you can leave a response or trackback from your own site