Going Green

GREEN, ECO, ENVIRO, BLAH BLAH BLAH…WHAT DOES IT ALL REALLY MEAN?

To understand ‘GREEN’ you can start with definitions. Here are some of the most used. The more you learn, the smarter you are with your manufacturers.

Green-Term Definitions

Bamboo
Bamboo fabric is a natural textile that is light and strong, has excellent wicking properties and is naturally antibacterial. Bamboo fibre resembles cotton in its unspun form, a puffball of light, airy fibres. Extensive bleaching is needed to turn the fibre white, but companies producing organic fabric leave it unbleached. Bamboo fabric is favoured by companies looking for sustainable textiles because the plant grows quickly and generally doesn’t require pesticides or herbicides. The fabric also has insulating properties to keep the wearer cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

Biodegradable
A product deemed biodegradable can, under suitable conditions, break down into its natural parts and disappear without any harm to the environment — imagine a banana peel. Some biodegradable products take years to fully decompose.

Bioplastics
Plastics derived from renewable, biological sources, including vegetable oil and corn, rather than petroleum. All bio- and petroleum-based plastics are technically biodegradable under the right conditions, and some petrochemical-based plastics may be added to bioplastics to improve performance. Most bioplastics only degrade in strict commercial composting.

Compostable
Similar to biodegradable, compostable products can be disposed of in nature. Composting is the act of — either small-scale organically or in a large, industrial system — helping organic matters decompose. Compost can then be used in landscaping and agriculture as a fertilizer. Commercially compostable products have to decompose within a certain time frame, usually a few weeks — much quicker than compostable and biodegradable products — under tightly controlled conditions.

Carbon Debts and Offsets
Increasing evidence toward global warming makes these terms pertinent. Most people are said to be accruing a carbon debt, or an increasingly high level of carbon consumption, for activities such as driving a gas-powered car or using electricity. Carbon offsets are attempts to neutralize one’s carbon debt through planting trees or giving money to organizations that help businesses go green or encourage green-friendly research and development.

Crank-Charging Electronics
Using old-fashioned kinetic energy and a tiny energy cell, some products can be recharged by repeatedly turning a lever. Increasingly common — often kept in the car — are crank-charging flashlights. Other popular crank-charge items are radios and battery chargers. Some companies, particularly in Europe and Australia, are experimenting with wind-up cell phones, MP3 players and laptop computers.

Energy Efficiency
The most efficient products require the least energy to generate the most output. For example, compact fluorescent light bulbs use far less energy than typical incandescent lights while producing the same brightness; therefore, they are more energy efficient. Engineers compute energy efficiency using a ratio, written as a decimal between 0 and 1. The closer a method’s ratio is to 1, the more efficient it is.

Fair Trade
A model of international trade and a social movement that supports paying a fair price and upholding social and environmental standards, particularly relating to exports from developing and Third World countries.

Jute
Jute is a completely biodegradable fibre. Though it’s found most in materials like burlap, innovations with jute have made it possible to use it to construct a silk-like material. Jute is abundant in Southeast Asia and inexpensive to produce.

LED Light Bulbs
Though slightly more expensive than fluorescent or halogen bulbs, LED lights have a much higher energy-efficiency ratio. The electric bill savings more than makes up for their higher sticker prices. Additionally, if every house and business in the United States switched a handful of light bulbs to LED lights, several fossil-fuel burning power plants could be closed.

Organic Cotton
Grown without pesticides and from plants that are not genetically modified, organic cotton is popular among fair-traders and agricultural purists. Organic farming requires crop rotation to reduce pests and maintain soil nutrients. This, in combination with lower abundance due to no genetic modifications, makes it more expensive to produce. It can cost the end user 20 to 50 percent more.

PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
This material is the recyclable part of plastic soda and water bottles. It has been used in the past to make everything from clothes and carpet to more bottles.

Pre-Consumer or Post-Industrial vs. Post-Consumer
During any manufacturing process, some materials are inevitably scrapped. Instead of throwing these scraps away, some companies use them for other purposes. These are pre-consumer recycled materials. Post-consumer recycled materials come from items that have been used and then recycled.

Recycled Leather
Products made from this material are surprisingly controversial. Intuitively, making products from already-used leather lessens the need to slaughter animals for more. Hard-line opponents of leather, however, say that the popularity of the recycled material will only increase overall demand for the good and will lead to more unethical treatment of animals.

Recycled vs. Recyclable
Products labelled recycled are made from materials that have been used and reprocessed in to something else. The materials in recyclable products are able to be recycled, if the user disposes of them in a recycling facility. They can, but may not necessarily, be used to make a recycled product. There is nothing inherently environmentally friendly about a recyclable product.

Renewable Resources
A natural resource qualifies as renewable if it is naturally replenished at least as fast as it is consumed, such as oxygen and fresh water. They can become non-renewable, however, if used faster than the environment can replenish them. Also included in the category are products such as paper and leather.

Soy Candles
Candles are commonly made with paraffin, a petroleum-based hydrocarbon. This type of candle releases pollutants into the air when burned and only adds to the world’s petroleum dependency. Candles made from soy wax or vegetable oil pose a much cleaner-burning alternative.

Sustainability
The potential longevity of ecological systems. Sustainable agriculture, for example, refers to a farm’s ability to produce indefinitely without causing irreparable damage to the ecosystem; meeting the needs of the present without hindering the future. In business, sustainability is normally protocols not specific to the environment.

Synthetic Polar fleece
Fleece jackets are still a popular choice in our industry. This light and soft wool- alternative is made from spun polyester and can be produced entirely from recycled plastic soda bottles.

William Kestin APPA CEO