Green your home now
Hundreds of consumer decisions go into making a house a home, from your choice of dishes to your brand of garbage bag. Look for kitchen and houseware products that are made from recycled and/or recyclable materials
Why it’s important
Each product for your home has its own ecological consequences. Something you may never have even thought about, like your coffee filter or gift wrap, may have a more eco-friendly cousin on the market that you could just as easily purchase instead. Choosing tree-free paper products (that is, those made entirely from post-consumer waste) is clearly a better alternative to buying paper towels made from virgin forests. Read more about paper products for your home.
In the case of garbage bags, the options are more confusing but the issue no less important to the environment. Most garbage bags are made from polyethylene, a petroleum derivative. They may take decades to break down in a landfill, keeping their contents from degrading as well. Photodegradable bags are a poor choice for landfills, where they would lack the light necessary to degrade. Biodegradable bags are a better choice because they depend on living materials like fungi or bacteria. Compostable bags, often made from starches, are highly degradable but only in a compost bin. Read more about plastic bags.
Learn more
- More about plastic bags from ICIS: Biodegradable plastics confuse the public
- National Resources Defense Council: A shoppers guide to home tissue products.
Learn more about the Conscious Consumer Marketplace.
If you would like for your company to be listed in the Conscious Consumer Marketplace, please email Carolyn Danckaert or call 301.891.3683 ext. 125.








