What used to come to mind when people talked about going “green” was the use of compost and organic solutions for insect, disease and fertility problems in the garden. But thanks to the concerns of citizens all over the globe, going green has risen from practices adopted by a few to mainstream culture.

In fact, going green is often referred to now as being "eco-friendly" or environmentally sustainable, and has its own terminology and set of parameters. Manufacturers of many home and garden products have been quick to climb on this bandwagon, touting their products as eco-friendly, in the hope that you will purchase their product for this reason.

But what does eco-friendly really mean? What is it that makes a product eco-friendly? Eco-friendly products are products made of environmentally-friendly materials. They usually contain recycled materials or "rapid renewables." Recycled materials are those that had a previous use and are now being re-used in a new way.

One example is the use of newsprint in the garden as a mulch to control weeds. Another way to recycle would be to use salvaged materials, as our family did when turning part of a discarded candle-pin bowling alley into a new dining table. It could mean products that may contain "rapid renewables" or sustainable materials. Commonly known examples are bamboo and cork.

Using "rapid renewables" helps to protect precious natural resources. It is usually easy and economical to quickly replace these products, sustaining a steady supply without depleting our natural resources. However, bamboo and cork come from tropical countries and must travel long distances to reach us. A better source might be wood from our native New Hampshire forests and stone from our native bedrock.

Products that have gone through very little processing before coming to market are considered eco-friendly as well because they consume very little energy during manufacturing.

Examples include granite steps or benches, stone pavers and some wood products. Products that are handmade also tend to use little energy during manufacture, and so are considered environmentally friendly.

Eco-friendly products are as free as possible from harmful chemicals and compounds. In production, the use of toxic compounds such as wood preservatives or creosote, volatile organic compounds, chlorine and PVCs (these deplete the ozone layer) are reduced or eliminated.

This also applies to organic food, produced using management practices defined under the Organic Foods Production Act. Organically-grown food is produced in a way that replenishes and maintains soil fertility, uses minimal off-farm inputs, uses no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, and encourages a biologically diverse agricultural system. Organic foods are one alternative. Another would be locally-produced, unprocessed food that doesn’t travel to us from across the country or even from outside the country.

One goal of true eco-friendly product manufacturers is to minimize depletion of the environment during production and transportation to market. Manufacturing plants often have high heating, cooling and electric costs, and many require large amounts of water. Eco-friendly manufacturers try to reduce their dependence on natural resources like water. They actively recycle and work to reduce their energy use. Their products have minimal packaging, and that packaging often consists of recycled materials. Distribution may be limited to keep the use of fuel to a minimum. Companies that use hand labor to manufacture, package and distribute their product, rather than machines, are also considered environmentally friendly.

Eco-friendly products have multiple purposes. They are manufactured from environmentally-friendly materials and often have a long shelf life. One example is cloth bags. These can be made of jute, hemp or other materials. They are used to bag groceries, carry books and a multitude of other tasks and they last for years. In addition, they help people reduce the amount of goods they need to purchase, thus reducing the amount of goods that need to be manufactured. Lastly, such products help people reduce the amount of trash that gets sent to landfills.

Eco-friendly products often come from companies where working conditions are humane and healthy, and their workers are paid a living wage. Known as fair trade, this affects humans and is one more component of what makes a product "green." Fair trade is about making a decent living, and most of us have heard this term used in relation to coffee and tea growers in other parts of the world.

Eco-friendly products often reduce the environmental impact of the building in which they’re housed. One recent example is a local radio station that advertises the use of solar power to run the station. Composting toilets, appliances that use electricity efficiently (e.g., ENERGY STAR), products powered with solar energy, efficient wood stove/furnaces and devices that remove pollutants from the air are all eco-friendly.

So how do you know if a product is truly eco-friendly of if the promotional material is just hype? To really know, you have to become a highly-educated consumer. Sometimes that just means reading the ingredients on the label carefully. Sometimes products meet certain standards or are endorsed by a well-respected entity.

If a product is certified organic, for example, you know it has been produced using certain practices and that an inspector has verified that the grower or producer has followed those practices. Sometimes it means doing a little research into the manufacturing practices of the company selling the product. Ultimately, it means deciding which of all the elements that go into making a product "green" matter most to you, and then basing your buying decisions accordingly.

By Margaret Hagen, UNH Cooperative Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources