Green-up your Shopping Basket
The best way of minimising your impact on the environment is to avoid purchasing entirely, but this is neither realistic nor practical for all but the most extremely self-sufficient people. So what should you do when you want to buy something and you are faced with a shop full of items?
If you haven’t got time to scrutinise the full environmental credentials of each product, and let’s face it, it’s a huge task, then there are a number of things you can do to green-up your shopping basket.
Start by looking for the eco-labels that many products carry. Unfortunately a lot of marketers use eco-friendly claims rather liberally, so first read our section on green claims to help sift out the authentic from the ‘green washing’.
Then have a scroll through the following topics to find out more about how you can purchase to help minimise your eco-footprint.
Green claims
Green marketing
Green stores
Green designers
Green credit cards
New ways of purchasing
‘Green’ or ‘eco-friendly’ is an emerging product category and many of us are not familiar with the products and standards associated with it. As such we rely to an extent on the ‘green claims’ of a product when trying to select one with a lower environmental impact.
Phrases such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘recyclable’, ‘biodegradable’, ‘reduces energy consumption’ and others are increasingly being included on a product’s packaging. In Australia, these claims are legislated under the Trade Practices Act 1974 which prohibits a corporation from making false representations or engaging in conduct that is misleading or deceptive. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has received a growing number of complaints on green marketing products, and is set to clamp down on marketing schemes that claim all sorts of ‘green’ benefits, including those associated with carbon credits.
There are a number of voluntary standards and codes for producers publishing green claims on their products. These are detailed in the international standard which provides guidance on the terminology, symbols, testing and verification methodologies that an organization should use for self-declaration of the environmental aspects of it’s products and services. For more details click here. In short, it requires that claims such as ‘recyclable’ should only be used where there is evidence that the recycling infrastructure is available. Many products may be recyclable in theory, but if the infrastructure is not locally available then they are unlikely to get recycled in practice, hence cannot make the claim.
Under the guidance, non-specific claims such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘green’ or ‘eco-friendly’ are considered neither clear, nor specific so should not be used. The standard also requires that the claims be reassessed and updated to reflect changes in technology, competitive products or other circumstances that could alter the validity of the claim over time.
You can be more confident that a product or service you are purchasing is more environmentally friendly if it has an eco-label, particularly one which is accredited by a third party. For example, the Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) eco-label (developed for general compliance to international standards) recognises environmentally innovative products and, more recently, administrative services. Other symbols which can help with the recognition of more environmentally friendly products include the recyclability logo (the mobius loop), which aids recognition of products containing recycled materials.
To see all eco-labels to look out for when shopping have a look at our eco-labels page.
Companies have identified the increasing demand for green products and services as a key marketing opportunity. In order to tap into this growing consumer resource there are two routes a producer can take:
- Provide an alternative, less environmentally damaging product or service
- Alter the methods by which an existing product is made to make it more environmentally friendly
Some examples of actions that can be undertaken to improve a product’s green credentials for green marketing purposes include:
- Raw materials - reducing the volume of raw materials used, identifying less environmentally damaging raw materials, or using recycled materials
- Manufacturing process – reducing energy and water use through alternative production processes or technologies and minimising the impacts associated with the staff
- Transport – reducing the distances travelled by raw materials and products
- Packaging - avoiding packaging or reducing the impacts of it through using recycled or recyclable materials
- Reviewing the lifespan and repairability of a product - Products which last longer are likely to have less overall impacts than ones which a shorter lifespan
- Designing to ensure it can be disassembled and reused or recycled at the end of its useful life
Third part accreditation in the shape of eco-labelling provides a means of ensuring that the product or service has actually reduced environmental impacts, otherwise green marketing efforts can be viewed as ‘green washing’.
The number of stores which sell products with an environmental focus is growing almost by the week. Green directories which collate details of these stores and facilities are available to help identify local suppliers. There are a number of green directories which collate a list of green producers. These include:
http://www.ecodirectory.com.au/
http://www.greenpagesaustralia.com.au/
http://www.thegreendirectory.com.au/.
Eco- superstores have also emerged over the last few years. These stores conduct business predominantly through the internet where green products can be viewed and purchased on-line. Examples include http://www.neco.com/ and http://www.todae.com/.
Green Beings is pulling together a database of services, so send us your recommendations of eco services in your area for inclusion in our eco-services section whether it is local green-groups, workshops, suppliers or manufacturers using recycled goods.
In response to consumer demand some superstores are recognising the increasing importance of environmental issues in consumer choices. Organisations like Coles and Woolworths have their focus on reducing plastic bags. In the UK a number of retailers are implementing measures to reduce the environmental impacts of their products and to communicate the environmental performance of items. Tesco, for example is aiming to put eco-ratings on every product within its stores. These green labels are intended to provide consumers with transparency about a product’s carbon footprint. Have a look at the ‘future of ecolabels’ for examples of recently introduced labels to identify the footprint of individual products.
Other measures that have been adopted to reduce the impacts of consumption include:
- Use of compostable packaging on the organic product range (Sainsburys)
- Preferential selection of local produce (this helps local businesses and cuts down on the number of miles food must travel)
- Conversion of a percentage of the vehicle fleet to electric vehicles
- Reducing the number of plastic bags issued
- Cutting down on waste and reducing packaging
- Recycling waste produced from the stores
- Reduction of energy use within stores and conversion to renewable energy suppliers and design of new stores to minimise energy requirements
- Providing point rewards for recycling/returning plastic bags
- Delivery of produce by rail rather than road, and management of the delivery process to ensure that trucks do not travel empty, and using double-decker transport vehicles to reduce the number of journeys required
- Teaming up with research institutes to fund research into measures for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from operations.
Marks and Spencers (M&S), one of the UK’s oldest retailers has introduced fair-trade cotton products, recycled and organic cotton clothing. M&S avoid buying fish where the origin of the catch is unknown, and sell fish approved under the UK Marine Conservation Society environmental assessment scheme. Suppliers of farmed fish are required to work to the M&S code of practice and audit the farming activities. Many M&S stores sell home products. These now include items which make recycling easier, in particular split compartment bins and composting bins. They are also increasing the amount of recycled materials used in their products.
Concern over our ever increasing consumption has lead to the emergence of a new breed of ‘sustainable designers’. These designers take a more holistic approach to product development, the focus being on the redesign of our globalised world, where every resource should as far as possible be sourced and distributed locally. New products are being developed which appropriately consider lifecycle from creation to disposal. Waste production and energy use during the manufacturing process are considered and minimised, thus saving money too. Larger companies are also catching on, and are increasingly trying to adopt sustainability principles, not least to gain a competitive edge. As such this has become an exciting time for designers and there is a growing market for sustainable products.
A number of green credit cards are available overseas, features from which are likely to be seen on our shores in the near future. Recently launched in the UK is the Barclaycard Breathe. To minimise emissions, account statements will only be issued online and all advertising will be done online. The cards themselves are made out of PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol) a greener alternative to traditional plastic. PETG is a thermoplastic polyester resin and is recyclable. Greenpeace has identified PVC manufacturing process, traditionally used for credit cards, as the largest source of dioxin released into the environment.
Breathe cardholders receive discounts and lower-rate borrowing when they buy certain green energy saving products or services, such as public transport tickets, home insulation and local holidays. 50 percent of the after-tax profits from Breathe are donated to environmental projects around the world that are dedicated to reducing carbon emissions. Other ‘green ethical credit cards’ include:
American Express Red– which contributes 1 percent of your total spend to the Global Fund to help fight AIDS in Africa.
Think credit card from Co-operative Bank – which purchases half an acre of Brazilian rainforest for your first credit card transaction, with contributions to charity when you spend.
Although not offering similar ‘green credit cards’, Bendigo Bank has a range of green products under it’s Generation Green™ range, including personal loads at reduced interest rates for environmentally friendly products such as environmentally friendly vehicles, insulation, external awnings and the like.
Brighter Planet is a new American startup, and is set to release its first product, the patent-pending Bright Card. It is a credit card where a percentage of purchase charges will be invested in efforts to advance renewable energy.
There are now numerous companies able to sell you offsets for greenhouse gas emissions associated with your business, house, travel and flights. It is now possible to offset the emissions from the manufacturing, shipping and selling of products you need to purchase.
One such company is http://www.climatecooler.com/, or ‘Cooler’ for short. This American company allows you to make purchases for the same price, at more than 400 online retailers affiliated with the site. When a product is purchased the global warming impact is calculated, and to offset it the stores return a portion of the price to Cooler which is then invested in renewable energy and pollution prevention projects.
This is a relatively new model for purchasing and allows items to be purchased with an embedded offset. Cooler uses a database called Life-cycle Environmental Assessment of Products and Services (LEAPS) which provides an economic calculator rather than an engineering calculator to determine emissions. It is a cruder method but provides a swifter analysis.
Earthmoment (http://www.earthmoment.com/) works in a similar way to Cooler by allowing you to purchase from traditional retailers who pay a commission to Earthmoment, half of which is donated to investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects.