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Live Green Mom is a busy, busy mom, so thank goodness for guest posts!

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I recently came across this post about a new toy brand that claimed to be made of 100% natural rubber and eco-friendly. Of course, that immediately caught my attention for two reasons. First, on the positive side, I became curious about it because it definitely is a welcome change to all the news of toy recalls due to safety concerns, particularly those due to lead contamination. Secondly, it made me wonder how and if it was really possible to be 100% earth friendly. As I read through the post, I appreciated how the writer said that the product was actually just 95% percent biodegradable, as there was a velvet finish that covered the rubber material that was not actually biodegradable.

I appreciated that because as someone who tries her best to be as green and eco-conscious as possible,  I want to be sure that I am getting all the facts straight. I’m sure we’ve all, at one point or another, endorsed or promoted a product to our friends and family thinking it was eco-friendly, only to find out that we were led astray by marketing. This was especially true when the whole green revolution started a few years back. In 2010, however, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued new guidelines for labelling such products.

So for the average consumer like us, how do we really know how green a product really is? Or at the very least, how do we make sure we are going as eco-friendly as we possibly can? Here are 4 tips I keep in mind when I do my own shopping.

1. Read the label. I’m sure this comes across as common sense to most people, but the thing is, some products do not completely disclose what’s on the product. They find ways to skirt around the issue without really being false. Careful discrimination of product content will allow you to make better judgment as to whether this product is really environmentally friendly or not.

2. Know the difference. Granted that we live in a world that is dependent on consumerism (I think this is a fact we cannot deny, right?), we need to be more cautious about what advertisers tell us. In the same way that manufacturers manage to give us the runabout, so does commercialism. The use of “biodegradable”, “environmentally friendly”, “organic” and similar labels have gotten too common and when we stop and think about it, are they really being 100% accurate? Maybe only 25% of the product is actually non-biodegradable and not the entire product, just like the toy I mentioned earlier.

3. Check out the packaging. While we may find 100% natural, organic or environmentally safe products, before putting that into your shopping cart ask yourself this: how is this packaged? For example, you find this cleaning product that is all natural, but is it sold in a plastic bottle? If so, is this bottle really recyclable? How much of it? Looking at these little details can also make a big difference.

4. Understand what the recycle codes on packaging means. See those little symbols at the bottom or sides of your plastic bags, containers and the like? These all say something. More than just being an indicator of potential health hazards, these symbols also tell us the chemical composition of these packages. Through this we can have a better assessment of how green these products are. Let’s face it, no matter how we put it, plastic is plastic.

(Here is a guide to what those plastic numbers mean and how best to recycle them!)

As a whole, going green doesn’t necessarily mean giving up all the comforts and familiar things that have made our lives easier. It’s really making a conscious effort to be effective and responsible stewards of our earth.

Marina Chernyak is co-owner of 1001Shops LLC a stop shop for imported eco-friendly products like jute and bamboo rugs.

 

 

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