Getting duped!

So, as a newly minted "greenist," I admit to not being fully informed yet on what all this means. It's easier than ever to find green products--even in the local grocery stores. Everyone sells something that claims to be green somehow. But, are they really? And what do these labels mean?? What is the difference between "natural" and "organic" and "environmentally friendly" and "plant-based"? Etc. I've done a little research recently and have found out that most of us who are buying green products at the grocery store are probably getting duped! At the very least, we are paying way too much money for the product. At the very worst, we are giving our money to a company who purports to be saving the environment while they're simultaneously killing trees, putting pesticides in their other products, and raking in money from both sides of the spectrum: shoppers who don't care about being green so they stick with traditional products, and shoppers who try to be green but who will buy from this "trusted" label. I tell you, when I found this out, it made me mad!

Case in point: Kimberly Clark makes a line of "natural" toilet paper (Scott Naturals), but all the while, they have been cutting down acres upon acres of previously untouched forest land in Canada. You can read moer at http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/new-evidence-of-kimberly-clark.

Another example: Clorox and its new "Green Works" line. Although this actual line of products has been deemed "not the worst offender" by TreeHugger (Full Article), the problem is that this line is only one of many they sell. So, if you buy Green Works, you are definitely doing a better service to the environment that if you buy their regular line, you are still supporting a company that is absolutely environmentally UNfriendly when you look at the big picture of their consumption and waste.

Granted, it's very difficult to find a company who is 100% sustainable. But it's easy to find those who try way harder than the big names you might be tempted to buy just because you recognize the name brand.

So, for starters, you could check out Green Sol (www.green-sol.net); they only sell products that are manufactured by companies who ONLY manufacture green products. One of them has been doing it since 1964 -- WAY before it was the cool thing to do! No matter where you get your products, do a little legwork. Find out if the company only sells green products, or if they "offer a line" of them. Always choose the former. And look for companies whose products are backed by a green certification body, like Green Seal, DfE, or EcoLogo.

Oh, and the labels I mentioned earlier -- like "green" vs. "natural," etc. I'll discuss those in a future post, I promise!

Do you have any suggestions for finding green companies? Share them with me!

When Should You Speak Up?

So I was talking to an acquaintance of mine the other day who is very involved in holistic healing. We were talking about how the holistic approach to the body should mirror the way we treat the earth, so he agreed that being green is very important. But then, he proceeded to tell me that he had been invited to participate in a holistic health convention that takes place -- wait for it -- on a cruise ship!! I'm sorry..WHA??? I don't get it. How can anyone who purports to be holistic and green set foot on a cruise ship? Don't people know that cruise ships basically have destroyed our oceans? Here is a fact from Oceana.org:

Cruise ships generate an astonishing amount of pollution: up to 25,000 gallons of sewage from toilets and 143,000 gallons of sewage from sinks, galleys and showers each day.

That's just one astonishing fact. There are many more disturbing facts about the impact of cruise ships on our oceans. (For more: http://na.oceana.org/en/our-work/stop-ocean-pollution/cruise-ship-pollution/overview or http://www.odec.ca/projects/2006/kutp6p2/)

So, at any rate, being the OCD-ish greenist that I am, it was difficult for me not to lecture this acquaintance! But I didn't. I thought: What difference will it make? He's not going to cancel his appearance just because I launch into a diatribe about the evils of cruise ships.

But isn't this the dilemma we all face? What if just one person said just one thing to one person, and that one person made one different choice? If that happened just once a day, it could add up over time, right? Where do we draw that line between being a responsible inhabitant of this earth and a good conversationalist? I guess it all comes down to priorities. I'm not sure I had mine straight the other day. Maybe I'll send him an email with a link to Oceana.org... What would you do?