The 3 R’s of sustainable living shouldn’t be reduce, reuse and recycle, but reduce, reduce and reduce! Of course reusing and recycling are very important but the focus should be on reducing what we buy in the first place, and purchasing products with little or no packaging.

Until now I felt that I was doing my part by recycling and making sure that all the food waste went into to the “green bin” for composting by the city, but after repacking all my garbage to take to the dump I realized that by far the biggest problem is the amount of waste that we bring into the house on a daily basis. A lot of food packaging is not recyclable and the packaging on consumer electronics is so excessive and difficult to open that someone even invented a special tool to deal with it!

As consumers we can do more. We can choose to purchase products with minimal or no packaging, and we can take take our own shopping bags and boxes. Ultimately though it is governments and businesses that must step up to the plate and reduce this ridiculous waste. It is not possible to reduce all packaging but it certainly can be reduced substantially, and what must be used should be recyclable.

So reduce, reduce, reduce, and when you can’t then reuse and recycle. Reusing and recycling should last resorts and not easy cop-outs.

I remember reading a few years ago that designer tree houses were all the rage. Adults were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to have luxury tree houses built. These were actually homes built in trees.

While we might not all have that luxury we can certainly indulge our fantasies by looking at these wonderful structures.

GreenLivingOnline.com recently ran a wonderful article featuring some of the best New Treehouses of the World, extracted from Peter Nelson’s book of the same name.

Enjoy!

NewTreehouses of the World

People will have the environment on their minds today, as they should. More than ever we need to seriously change our consumption habits if we want to leave the earth inhabitable for future generations. We must also continue to keep the pressure on governments and businesses to make environmental issues a priority.

Although Earth Day is a wonderful idea, what really matters is what we do everyday, 365 days of the year.

The number of green products in the market is increasing exponentially. It seems that every business is claiming to be green. But are they? Or are we all being greenwashed?

What criteria does a company use to determine that it is green, or to sell its claim to be a responsible green enterprise. While there are best practices, guidelines and the ISO 14021 standard for environmental labeling, these are not enforced and businesses use their own criteria to make that assessment, or pronouncement, themselves.

The environmental marketing firm TerraChoice just released “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing” (updated from the 2007 version, where there were only six sins!) which are:

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off – using a narrow set of attributes to determine a product is green, instead of looking at the entire manufacturing process.
2. Sin of No Proof - making claims that cannot be easily substantiated by supporting documentation or third-party certification.
3. Sin of Vagueness – poorly defined claim;  “all natural” is not necessarily “green” or even safe.
4. Sin of Irrelevance – claim may be true but meaningless;  for example stating a product is “CFC free” since CFC is banned by law.
5. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils – the product is harmful; making it a less harmful does not change that fact.
6. Sin of Fibbing – basically lying about their green claim!
7. Sin of Worshipping False labels (new) – fake labels of third-party certification.

The entire report can be downloaded from here: Greenwashing Report 2009

In November 2008 and January 2009 TerraChoice researchers visited 24 big box stores in Canada and the United States and evaluated 2,219 products and 4,996 green claims. They found that 98% of these products committed at least one of the previously identified six sins and a seventh sin emerged, the “The Sin of Worshipping False Labels”. Green claims – and greenwashing - are most common for kids toys and baby products, cleaning products and cosmetics.

So what is a consumer to do?

Do not give up. Keep supporting greener products but choose wisely. Pick products will reliable labels, or if absent products that offer transparency, information and education. If unsure, keep in mind the Seven Sins above.

According to the Greenwashing Index site, when presented with a green product we need to know “The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth“.

To keep companies honest you can login to The Greenwashing Index and rate ads on how green you believe them to be from 1 = authentic, to 5=bogus.  You can even submit ads for review.

Greenwashing is bad for the environment, consumers and business, so help cut through the greenwashing and we all win.

So, before you buy another green product, make sure you are not getting greenwashed.

P.S.

I like the The GreenWashing Index definition of greenwashing as:

“… when a company or organization spends more time and money claiming to be “green” through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact. It’s whitewashing, but with a green brush.“

What do you think? Are teenagers greener than their parents, or do they only think they are?

I live in Ontario and I remember when I was growing up there were “Do not litter” signs everywhere, especially on the highway and warnings of a $50 fine if you were caught littering.  I NEVER litter and I don’t know of any of my friends who do. It was so ingrained in us that I still carry around litter until I find a garbage can. I could never understand why the government stopped that very successful campaign.

When I see young people litter I cringe. I have even been known to question the quality of their upbringing! My perfect children do not litter – they only leave all the lights on!

We can’t escape it . We must change if the planet is to survive.  Although the prospect of going green may at first seem overwhelming it is not an all or nothing decision. For most it is a gradual evolution brought on by small everyday changes.

Whether you have already embraced the eco friendly lifestyle or are taking baby steps in that direction, going green can be very liberating. The first step is to be conscious of the decisions we make and the actions we take on a daily basis and identifying what we can change.