Things you can do while shopping

You must understand that products can be green in some ways, e.g. 100% recycled, but not in others.  It is impossible to have no impact on the environment; therefore, companies interested in decreasing their environmental impact must try to reduce their affect in many areas including raw resource extraction, manufacturing, energy, shipping, and waste disposal. You as a consumer have the obligation to hold companies to being more environmentally friendly.  Supporting those companies that are making an effort shows that you do care and will help to push other companies into taking action,

1. Be aware of Greenwashing - Greenwashing is where a company tries to mislead you about their 'green' practices.

2. Clothing - buying organic cotton or bamboo can be 'greener' than buying cotton which requires a high use of pesticides. Organic cotton addresses this pesticide concern. Bamboo fabrics are also an alternative to other fabrics and is considered to be 'greener' because it is a renewable resource, growing very fast and requiring no pesticides or chemicals in its growth.  However, to turn bamboo into the nice soft fabric requires 'cooking' the bamboo in strong chemical solvents including NaOH, carbon disulfide, and bleach. So, you have to weight your own costs and benefits of the whole production process.

3. Jute - this is another more environmentally friendly product.  It is biodegradable, carbon neutral, and can be grown in 4-6 months.  Jute is also known as burlap.  This fibre is environmentally friendly mainly due to its ability to naturally decompose.

4. When shopping for cosmetics, or other chemicals you use around the house, you can look for companies that are trying to decrease their impact by being biodegradable/natural ingredients or using recycled material containers, but also companies trying to be 'greener' with their production process or energy use etc.  For example, Burt's Bees and Tom's of Maine are trying to be more environmentally friendly. These are just 2 examples but there are many more out there, just take a couple minutes to investigate into those companies that you are interested in.

5. When shopping pay attention to environmental labels.  Be careful though because of greenwashing, but becoming familiar with other labels will help you know which ones to trust.

6.  Try to by foods and other products with minimal packaging.  This will help eliminate your waste production at home and will decrease the environmental impact of the production of that packaging.

7.  Try buying bulk foods.  Buying in bulk can easily eliminate some unnecessary packaging but be careful not to over buy, you don't want the food to spoil if you don't use it fast enough.

8. Be careful of some chemicals that may not be the greatest for you or the environment.  Specifically you can watch out for the 'dirty dozen' chemicals

9. Think of alternatives to gift giving.  There are many ways to say "thanks" or "I love you" or "you are the greatest" besides buying into consumerism.  A nice dinner, hike, picnic, or fun activity works just as well.  Or you could make your own recycled gift.