Eco-Seals: Who Can We Trust?

With consumers becoming increasingly interested in reducing their environmental impact, it seems as if every new product is heralded as being “green.” However, with no governmental regulation on eco-labeling, the question remains: what constitutes a “green” product?

While on Grist yesterday, I came across this article from The Wall Street Journal which examines the proliferation of eco-seals in today's market.

Many are pushing for the federal government to take a stronger role in regulating "green" labels. Last year Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) introduced an eco-label program that would recognize some products as environmentally favorable. "A growing number of consumers are interested in making informed choices about the environmental impacts of their purchases -- and I believe the federal government can help," Sen. Feinstein said, "So, I am working with consumer advocates, manufacturers, distributors, and existing labeling and certification project leaders ... to create an accredited national eco-label program."

Despite these efforts, the article points to the FDA's organic food certification process as an example of the difficulty in government intervention: "With food, it took decades of competing efforts in the private marketplace and at the state level before the federal government came up with standards and regulations acceptable to the myriad interested parties."

Until significant strides in regulation occur in Washington, independent certification processes remain the best bet in sorting through the "greenwashing."

Take a look at GreenCupboards' certification process as well as ecolabelling.org for more information on reliable eco-labels and what exactly makes products environmentally friendly.

Delicious Living Magazine: Green Cleaning Guide

One of our friends recently sent us this article from Delicious Living Magazine on green cleaning. Several of the products offered on GreenCupboards.com are featured. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Five Items to Ban from Your Home

1. Non-Stick Cookware
Love the ease of cooking your Sunday morning omlet in a non-stick pan? It comes at a steep price: the non-stick coating on Teflon pans, polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE for short, has been linked to cancer, organ failure, reproductive damage, and other serious health effects. Try anodized aluminum, stainless steel, or cast iron pans with a little cooking oil to avoid sticking. If you must use Teflon, try cooking with lower heat to reduce your exposure to harmful toxins.

2. Plastic Bottles
Unless you live under a rock you’ve heard the recent media attention to the dangers of BPA in plastic water bottles. BPA acts as an “endocrine disruptor,” mimicking the effects of hormones that harm the reproductive and growth functions of the body. While manufacturers of multiple use water bottles have switched to BPA- free plastics, most single-use plastic water bottles haven’t and are even worse for releasing chemicals, particularly in the sun or microwave. The bottles themselves are spawning grounds for bacteria and are a source of needless waste. Each year, more than one million barrels of oil are used to manufacture the more than 25 billion single-use plastic water bottles sold in the U.S.

3. Conventional Cleaning Supplies
Conventional cleaning supplies routinely make top ten lists of most toxic household products and contain certain chemicals that negatively affect every system in your body. All-purpose cleaners often contain ammonia, a strong irritant that can cause liver and kidney damage. Bleach is a powerful oxidizer, which can burn the skin and eyes. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that more than 120,000 children under the age of five were involved in incidents involving household cleaners in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available.To protect you and your family from the hazards conventional cleaners pose, choose non-toxic or natural cleaners like these.

4. Chemical Insecticides and Herbicides
This is fairly intuitive: because the purpose of these products is essentially to kill living things, you can imagine they would be harmful to humans. For example, cypermethrin, one of the active ingredients in Raid, is a known eye, skin and respiratory irritant and has negative effects on the central nervous system.

5. Air fresheners
In addition to making your house smell like a vat of chemicals, these contain chemicals that can aggravate respiratory problems like asthma, cause hormonal abnormalities, reproductive problems and birth defects. Try simmering cinnamon and cloves, leave a few windows open to let in fresh air, boil a pot of water on the stove with a few drops of your favorite essential oil, or use an essential oil burner instead.