How Green is Green?

I recently attended “How Green is Green” presented by the Ottawa Cleantech Initiative.  Here is what they wrote in their advertisement for this event:  

“Fuelled by the pressure to take better care of our environment, consumers are faced with a number of products, technologies, processes and policies claiming to be “green” but are they really? 

Is a new hybrid car really better than an old gas guzzler considering the energy and resources that went into making and delivering it? Are compact fluorescent light bulbs with traces of mercury better for the environment than the less energy efficient incandescent bulbs? And let’s not even begin the corn ethanol debate.   

Join us as we explore what makes a product, policy or process green. You may not leave with all the answers, but you will understand the metrics and standards that the experts use to assess exactly how environmentally friendly a product, policy or process really is.” 

Needless to say after reading the description of the event I was eager to attend. I wanted to know what makes a product green. 

What I found out at that meeting was quite disappointing. You see there really are no set standards for what qualifies as green and what doesn’t. 

The experts have not come up with the standardized metric for measuring what is green yet, in fact they can’t even agree on what is green and what isn’t.  The terminology is still under debate.  But that being said there was much I learned from attending this event. 

When we talk about “green” products, we are referring to products that are easy on the environment - meaning they do NOT produce as much damage on the environment as what previously was available – this doesn’t mean it’s good on the environment, simply less bad on the environment.  

A good example of this is the new gas tankless water heating systems – although they are high efficiency (meaning they don’t waste fuel) that doesn’t mean that they don’t use fuel to run – they are still using our natural gas resources and they are still producing exhaust (although only a fraction of the carbon footprint produced by a gas hot water tank). So it is better – in fact it is much better – and it is green – but it isn’t 100% green. 

NOTHING sold is 100% green – the reason is the product lifespan. Even if the end product is great for the environment, it took NON green processes to get that product to you. The packaging, the shipping, the manufacturing, all the way back to the raw materials and how they were processed all add to just how green a product is in the end. 

For example, you decide to buy a wood end table for your home. You do your homework and you find out that the wood is FSC (Forest Steward Council) certified, meaning it only came from re-growth forests (a renewable resource). Well that sounds great, but then to know if it was really green we would have to analyze how that wood was processed.  

• What kind of machinery did they use to cut down the trees (were they energy efficient or maintained in good working condition) 
• Did the trucks that hauled the wood save on fuel by driving slower or any other processes that would save on energy and the creation of exhaust 
• Did the saw mill that cut the wood into usable lumber use modern tools that use less energy to cut the wood 
• Did the saw mill dry the wood by kiln (producing more green house gases) or did they let the wood dry naturally over time 
• Was the wood treated with chemicals that are bad for the environment (like pressure treating) 
• Did the company that built the table use energy conserving tools & equipment to build the table 
• What happened to the waste products left over – were they recycled 
• What about the packaging (box and packaging materials) that were used to ship the completed table 
• What about the shipper that drove the product to the store 
• Is the store selling that product environmentally friendly  
• How is the table to be disposed of after you have enjoyed it for years and it is now ready to be replaced? Will it add to the landfill?  

You see there is so much more to “green” than just the end product and no product can be 100% green through its entire lifespan.  So the consumer is left making choices based on what limited information is provided. 

Now just to make things even more confusing creative advertisers are coming up with new ways to make products “sound” green.  They call this process “Green-washing”. 

I learned that there are 6 deadly sins of green-washing which are actually nothing more than immoral marketing tricks to get you the consumer to think a product is better than another. 

Here are those sins: 

1. Sin of hidden trade off 

For example: If you promote one “green” feature, but you don’t tell the consumer about all the non-green features. You don’t disclose everything. 

1. Sin of no proof 

The product makes claims without any proof at all. Although this is illegal in the food & drug industry, it isn’t illegal in other industries – but it should be! 

3. Sin of Vagueness 

Words like Chemical free, non-toxic, all natural give the impression they are good for you – but in reality arsenic is all natural and chemical free and non-toxic in small doses… a poison by any other name doesn’t make it healthy.  Vague words that mislead into believing something is just another tool used by the advertisers to sell products. 

4. Sin of Irrelevance 

For example a product may state on their labels “No CFC” to make their products look like it is environmentally friendly but the reality is NO product in Canada on the market today has CFC’s. They were outlawed years ago. So making that claim is rather irrelevant (like fat free lettuce)

5. Sin of Fibbing 

Some advertising is just a blatant lie made up to sell products. This is creative marketing at its worst.  

6. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils 

A great example of this is “organic cigarettes” – is it really better? Smoking is certainly not good for you organic or otherwise. 

Now that we know what the 6 sins of advertisers are, how can we as consumers possibly know the difference between what is green and what isn’t? 

For now your best resource is your own common sense. Here are some things to keep in mind when buying products (or services): 

• Ignore the fancy marketing that uses “green, organic, all natural, etc.” 
• Look for certifications that mean at least they are “better” if not the best (ie: Ecologo – Terra choice, FSC Forest Steward Council, Energy Star, Organic Food Products Regulation, etc.) 
• Think about whether this is something that will be healthy on the environment and your family and/or if it will benefit your family without harming the environment 
• How long will this product last? 
• How will it have to be disposed of when you are done owning it?   

If your thoughts and answers to these questions leave you feeling like this product is something you would be proud to own – odds are it is a better choice. 

Eventually there will be a “green” standard that can be measured and rated based on the effect it has on the environment (the carbon footprint of the future) both defined and benchmarked, but until that rating becomes standardized we will have to keep our eyes open while taking whatever steps we can towards minimizing the damage our modern lifestyles have created. 

One last point to keep in mind – cheaper isn’t always better and this is highlighted in the world of “green” technology.  The technology that saves you the most in both efficiency and carbon will cost the most because you are buying the best that technology has to offer. Inefficient is always cheaper, efficiencies require better parts, better construction, and better overall design.   

Green is not cheap, it comes at a big price as more and more companies put more money into research and development of these technologies. Over time we may see green products reducing in price, but odds are these will be cheaper knock offs of the real products that lack the lifespan of the originals and thus in the end don’t really save you money nor do they provide for the long term savings on the environment. 

You can expect to pay more to go green – but you can also expect to pay less in the long run (saving you money over time and minimizing the damage to the environment in the process). 

The long term effects of your choices today will be felt for many generations to come. We can give our grandchildren a better tomorrow by the choices we make today. 

Kay Kinder 

Consumer Advocate 

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