Green Options

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting fed up with buying things that break or wear out way before they should. Warranties – from both manufacturers and retailers — seem to be getting shorter and more limited than ever, as if durability is an afterthought.

But I don’t want to support the landfill economy. I want to support the restoration economy and, when I need to purchase things, support companies that care about the planet the way I do. Some of these companies break from this planned obsolescence mentality and profit obsession, companies like REI, or Recreation Equipment, Inc., where your love of the outdoors actually pays dividends to you, as a customer-member of the cooperative enterprise.

REI, the nation’s largest consumer cooperative, got its start in 1938 when a bunch of climbing buddies got together to buy some gear to explore the great outdoors. They support people, their community and the environment on which their enterprise is based. And they guarantee that their products last and perform as expected.

A couple years ago, for example, I purchased a pair of sandals from REI.  After limited use, my sandals had an ankle strap that broke. The brand is well known and adventure proven: Teva. Since I live in a four-season climate, they should have lasted longer than they did. Walking into the REI retail store in a much older pair of Tevas I wore when traveling to South America, I talked briefly with a salesperson in REI shoe department who found a replacement pair of a different model for me in minutes. No hassle. No runaround. Try that at a big box retailer or chain.

Not all clean tech companies need to produce more environmentally friendly products in order to make a difference; some are leaders in the industry because quite simply, they change their procedures in order to ensure that their practices reduce their carbon footprint. In this week’s Newsweek “Green Rankings” were released, and many of those higher up on the list include leaders in technology that are trying to make sure that their environmental impact is just that much cleaner.

In the results of a “Eurobarometer” survey recently released by the EU, we can see some progression in the evolution of green consumerism. EU citizens are taking the environment into account when purchasing products, according to the survey. They are also interested in putting carbon footprint labels on products. And what about green taxes?

A few years ago while back home in the US, I hopped in the car with the family to quickly run some errands.  Now, you need to understand that I have been in Europe for over 10 years and was not ready for what would happen next—a shopping experience without ever actually touching the ground.

Lifestyle is the biggest underlying contributor to our environmental impact. The things we buy, the products we use, the way we travel, are all influenced greatly by our lifestyle. Our lifestyle is the root of all our green (or not green) actions in some way or another. How we think, what we think about, how we spend our free time, our daily and weekly habits, what we decide to bring into our lives — this is our lifestyle.

I’ve come up with a top ten list of lifestyle factors that I believe have the biggest impact on whether or not we are living sustainable lives. Is your lifestyle sustainable?

In a meeting with environment and energy ministers from other European countries yesterday, Sweden’s Minister of Environment, Andreas Carlgren, said that global economic problems should in no way slow movement to address climate change. Other leading European ministers agreed.

Economic problems today are in many ways a result of environmental missteps in the past. If we want a healthy economy in the future, we have to take the environment into account more than we have. The Swedish Minister of the Environment agrees and says that there should be no hesitation to combat climate change due to the current economic situation.

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg occasionally writes posts on new, innovative green products (see Five Greenish Products You’ve Seen on TV and Five More Greenish Products You’ve Seen on TV). Rather than try to steal his thunder, this post looks at some basic, simple, green products that can make your everyday life many times greener.

Staying away from the topics of food and transportation, which are probably the biggest daily products you could green, here is a list of products you use everyday.

I’m becoming a coupon junkie… you know, the slightly crazy lady who gets to the check-out with a cart full of groceries and 30 minutes later hands the cashier $15.78.  Yep, I’m there.

As such, I ALWAYS pick up the Sunday paper… two or three if there are a lot of valuable coupons inside. (I always recycle the paper after using it for art projects, wrapping, cleaning windows, etc…).

This week I was surprised at the number of coupons for “natural” or “green” products.  While I would dispute the green-ness of several of this products, I am pleased to see the mainstream corporations finally making steps in the right direction.  (But listen up Huggies, there is a LONG way to go yet).

How will the market for ‘green products’ be affected by this recession?

Despite the dire state of the economy, 34 percent of American consumers indicate they are more likely to buy environmentally responsible products today, and another 44 percent indicate their environmental shopping habits have not changed as a result of the economy. Fewer than one-in-10 say they are less likely to buy. This is according to the results of the 2009 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey.

FairGreenTrade.com recently launched its green product and service directory. There’s a lot more to this web site than meets the eye.