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Green Buying Guide
by Kevin Havice, MIM, Causeit, Inc. Contributing Author
Kevin Havice, previously a sustainable business intern at Causeit, Inc., now works on behalf of Tropical Salvage, an amazing business salvaging tropical wastewood and converting it to beautiful modern furniture.
Do you want to buy green? Contribute to creating a sustainable economy? If so, I have some good news for you: it is easy.
Today, for all of the stuff that you buy, there are "green" choices -- products and services that were manufactured and traded in ways that are positive for the planet and our human communities. Usually (and, perhaps, contrary to popular belief), choosing these products and services does not cost you more. Five years ago you might have seen a significant price difference, but that is no longer the case.
Below are links to a variety of great web sites where you can shop and discover new possibilities. Please click the links to shop and discover new possibilities for buying anything and everything. And please forward this page on to your family and friends!
Portland Metro Guides
Applicable if you are in the East Bay; Portland/Eugene; Seattle; or Minneapolis/St. Paul. It's a great online directory/user reviews site, plus a book you can buy that is full of awesome coupons. I use the coupons out of the Portland edition all the time.
Applicable if you are in Portland/Vancouver; Salt Lake City; or Denver/Boulder. "The healthy and sustainable business directory." It is like the yellow pages, full of "green businesses." I recommend finding a (free) print edition in your town.
National Guides
The B Corporations
The "B" is for benefit: "a new type of corporation that are purpose-driven and create benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders." Watch the logos scroll by on the home page, or click on "B Community" for a list of the B Corps. (At Tropical Salvage—the company that I am a part of—we are considering becoming a B Corp!)
Co-op America's National Green Pages
A directory of businesses that are committed to social justice and sustainable practices. Organized by product category or geographic location.
An online marketplace carrying a wide variety of great products. One of the founding B Corps, eConscious Market gives 50 percent of its profits to non-profit organizations that you choose.
A coalition of businesses committed to fair trade—i.e. we support producers in developing countries who earn a living wage; contribute to positive economic development in those countries; and ensure environmental sustainability in those countries, as well. (I say "we" because Tropical Salvage is a member!)
National Geographic's Green Guide
Rather than being a place to buy products, this site is a collection of guides for product categories, like "laundry detergents" or "air conditioners," where each guide explains in detail the environmental impacts of different products in that category, and therefore what to look for and what to avoid when buying, for example, a laundry detergent or an air conditioner.
Just fill in the blank to find out how to "green" your anything. It gives specific product recommendations, and like the Green Guide, above, it explains the how and why.
Yes, Amazon now has a whole sub-site to help you "go green" in your purchasing. More than a dozen product categories, including electronics and computers.
Information About the Consumer Product Cycle
The Story of Stuff is a fun, insightful and important video about buying stuff! (Best viewed with a broadband connection.)
©2008 Kevin Havice and Causeit, Inc. All rights reserved. We are open to re-posting and publication; inquire here.
Posted 25 June 2008.
