Understanding Green Cleaning Product Designations
Because cleaning products often contain highly toxic ingredients that are bad for the environment, many earth-conscious consumers want to buy more eco-friendly cleaners and disinfectants. Here are some pointers to help clear the confusion regarding manufacturer claims, labels, and designations:
• For starters, don't be fooled by marketing and advertising that uses buzzwords to get your attention - but may have little truth and substance. It is easy for anyone to claim that a product is "natural," for example, but that does not necessarily mean that it is good for Mother Nature.
• What you can do is read the small print where the active ingredients are listed. Household cleaners that contain ammonia, for example, are going to be a lot less green than those that contain citric acid made from lemons - so scrutinize labels and use your common sense.
• The EPA provides a designation called Design for the Environment -abbreviated as DfE. While this designation does not guarantee that a product is green, it does signify that it is less harmful to the environment than other chemicals in its same class.
• A "Green Seal" on a label holds products to a much higher standard than DfE, however, and lets you know that products are non-toxic, biodegradable, and free from known carcinogens.
• If product labels indicate that they are classified as organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that ensures that ingredients are radiation and pesticide free, and come from organic, sustainable farms.
• More stringent makers of green products - like the Seventh Generation company - establish their own strict guidelines. The Method brand, for instance, takes additional steps to offset its carbon footprint even during the manufacture of its green cleaning products.
• Some companies also pay attention to not just what goes in the bottle, but the impact of the container itself, which adds an additional layer of eco-awareness. Dr. Bronner's, for example, is among those companies that only use 100 percent recycled plastics to make their bottles.
One way to simplify the consumer research is to rely on retailers to do it for you before they stock their shelves. If you buy household cleaning products in stores that specialize primarily in organic foods and green products, for example, the chances are greater that the selection of cleaners will already be pre-screened to ensure that they meet higher green standards.
