Buying your way to a greener planet

Bottled water is a prime area for planet improvement, suggests MacEachern.  "It is not even regulated to the same degree as tap water, yet through marketing people are convinced it is somehow healthier for them and the earth."  Not only does bottling water result in carbon emissions at the bottling plant and from delivery trucks, but it also adds a premium to something consumers already pay for through their water bills.  Then there is the plastic — lots of plastic, with bottles adding to landfills or in need of recycling, which also consumes energy. 

Other simple budget-friendly and environment-saving moves include washing clothes at colder temperatures, shifting from foil or plastic wrap to reusable containers for food storage and using cloth napkins instead of paper. According to The Natural Resources Defense Council,  forgoing a PC screen saver for an idle computer and instead just shutting the system off when not in use would cut $50 from electric bills each year.  Switching to laptops would save even more.  More ideas for creating both energy and household budget savings can be found on NRDC’s Web Guide to Greener Living.

Like developing healthier food habits, developing better planet habits means becoming a more educated consumer.

"We need to start reading all product labels the same way we read food labels," says MacEachern. "Only through a label can you confirm what you are getting. Terms like planet-friendly, eco- or animal-friendly don’t mean anything.  You need to see a third-party [green] verification."

One area particularly prone to eco-laundering right now is, appropriately enough, apparel.

"Currently when you look at the companies that are promoting green, many of them aren't talking about product," says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at The NPD Group Inc., a research group. "They are talking about knowledge of the issue or how you can participate.  Some aren't even making greener apparel."

He estimates eco-friendly apparel represents less than 1 percent of the industry’s market, but advertising the lifestyle accounts for about 20 percent. 

Covering your carbon tracks
Beyond rethinking habits and brand loyalties, consumers also have an opportunity to reduce guilt for those activities they are unable or unwilling to change, like traveling in motorized vehicles.  Many organizations will help erase those ‘carbon footprints’ by planting trees or through other environment-cleansing programs. 

For example, online travel agency Travelocity has partnered with the non-profit Conservation Fund to give its customers the option of offsetting the environmental impact of each trip when they book.

According to Travelocity’s travel editor-at-large, Amy Ziff, the environmental impact of an average four-night hotel stay, air travel and rental car for two people can be offset with a $25 donation to the fund.

Since the introduction of the carbon offset option last fall, the company has collected enough to plant 8,200 trees, allowing the fund to reforest a parcel of land decimated by Hurricane Katrina, says Ziff.  Travelocity’s British sister site, LastMinute.com, which has more of a history with offering an offset program, estimates 10 percent of its customers opt to purchase carbon offsets for their bookings. 

Going green may only seem like the latest fad, and certainly with Madison Avenue now talking a green game on behalf of its clients, skepticism is natural. But unlike cinch belts, padded shoulders and skinny jeans, it can actually help save consumers some green of their own, not to mention the planet we call home.

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