How Do We Compare Green Products?

Hi Maggie

The Eco-Buy program here in Australia uses the following criteria (see www.ecobuy.org.au):

- Recycled content
Greenhouse friendly
Water saving
Energy efficient
Low-toxicity
Fuel efficient

Personally, when I am making purchasing decisions myself, I look for the above, and:

- Locally manufactured (& minimal transport)
Association or green labelling credentials (from a label I know or trust e.g., certified organic, Fair Trade)
Performance I

n relation to comparing green paper products, please see the Know Your Paper Guide (www.dec.nsw.gov.au/resources/spd_ob_kyppurguideweb.pdf) or the Choosing Recycled Office Paper (http://www.ces.vic.gov.au/CES/wcmn301.nsf/LinkView/44D34DF84B661FE9CA2570C7001A6ED134EE51E97AF50DADCA2570C700181129) which compare papers according to whiteness, bleaching agent, country of origin, fibre composition, and other factors that affect performance in high speed copiers/printers. I also came across this assessment tool for electronic products yesterday which has criteria specific for those items: http://www.epeat.net/Criteria.aspx. I think the key to 'knowing whether you've made the right decision' is always being flexible (be willing to change brands), reading more and realising that specifications on 'what is green' are constantly changing through increased research and understanding.

kind regards,
Rowena

Waste Minimisation & Resource Recovery Officer
Sustainability Programs - Environment Division
Department of Tourism, Arts & the Environment (DTAE)
GPO Box 1751, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. 7001
email: [email protected]
website: www.environment.tas.gov.au

Maggie,

You may be interested in the following report and some of the other reports available from Dovetail Partners Responsible Materials Initiative. All of the reports are available online at: http://www.dovetailinc.org/ReportView.php?action=search You can select Responsible Materials as the Program to narrow the search, Dovetail Report: October 2006

What is a "Responsible Material" Anyway?
Dr. Jim Bowyer
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailResMat1006.html

The full text of this report is available in Adobe PDF format (660 kb):
http://www.dovetailinc.org/reports/pdf/DovetailResMat1006wq.pdf

Introduction

The United States is possibly the greatest consuming nation the world has ever known, with access of many of its citizens to conveniences of daily living at levels well above those of kings and princes of antiquity. Overall, the proportion of global consumption accounted for by the United States is four to five times higher than the U.S. proportion of global population. The U.S. is also a massive net importer of both raw materials and finished goods, causing in the process substantial impacts to the landscapes and environments of other nations. In view of the high global impact of U.S. consumption, it is worth considering whether Americans bear any responsibility for seeking to understand the negative impacts of their consumption on other geographic regions and for doing what they can to minimize those impacts. It is difficult to convincingly argue that they do not. If you do care about impacts linked to your corporate or individual consumption, your concern may lead you to such questions as: What is responsible production? What is a responsible material? And what steps might you take to improve your performance on the global responsibility scale? A growing number of mechanisms are available to answer these and similar questions, and to help you determine production impacts. There are also systems for verifying responsible production on an ongoing basis. These are the topics of this article.

-- Kathryn Fernholz

DOVETAIL PARTNERS
528 Hennepin Ave, Suite 202
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Phone 612-333-0430
Fax 612-333-0432
Cell 612-414-8041
[email protected]
www.dovetailinc.org