Thursday, August 13, 2009

Resources

Recently I've been on a quest to switch to greener products. I'm paranoid about getting green washed so I'm constantly doing research to find out which products are actually the greenest and figuring out which green products actually work.

I've slowly been switching to greener products ranging from laundry detergent to deodorant. I've found some that I'm really happy with, some I'm not so happy with and some that I'm allergic to. I have very sensitive skin and I've recently discovered I'm allergic to lavender. This is a real shame because I LOVE the smell of lavender. I always have to get the unscented version of the product I'm trying. Of course these never come in the economical bulk sizes (bummer).

Anyway I digress. The whole point of this post was to share some of the resources I use to research some of the products I try. There are three I turn to most.

First there is Green Guide. Green Guide was originally a magazine created by the folks of National Geographic. They offered the typical printed version but they also offered an electronic version that was delivered to your inbox each quarter.

The articles are well researched and I always found useful. (this article for instance) They had buying guides that you could print out that could be folded to the size of business cards that you could put in your wallet and take shopping with you. You'll notice that they refer to the "dirty dozen" a lot when they talk about cosmetic products. That one is folded up in my wallet and one of my co-workers uses it too. The magazine never made it past it's first year, but the site is still up and they update the content frequently.

For product reviews, I turn to Consumer Reports. You have to have a subscription to view the product ratings. Don't fret if you don't want to do an online subscription - their articles are pretty useful. They even launched a separate site devoted to all things green. If you check out their Eco Labels center you can research those labels you see on your green products and what they mean. (and whether they actually mean anything)

The last site I check is Amazon. Frankly, The Hubby and I use this for researching anything - from electronics to shampoo. They have a large selection of products for sale and they allow users to post reviews of every product on their site. People don't hold back on this site. You get good reviews, bad reviews and everything in between.

I hope these sites help you feel more comfortable when purchasing greener products. I've definitely picked up some duds (Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent - I guess they can't do everything well) but for the most part I've been pretty happy with the products I've tried (their laundry detergent works quite well).

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