Setting Greener Goals For A Sustainable New Year And Beyond (Week 1)
Amanda Drews , 13 minute read
You’ve decided to take the first steps towards making greener goals for this year with the 52-Week Challenge. Hooray! Good for you. So what are your goals? Why are you trying to be greener? How will you know if you are making good, sustainable choices? What do the different terms mean in the sustainable world? Here are the basics.
IN THIS ARTICLE YOU WILL:
- Learn how to set greener goals
- Decide WHY you want to be greener
- List important qualities you are looking for in products
- Learn about different certifications
- Learn what greenwashing is and how to spot it
- I don’t feel like reading, just take me to the video!
Usually I make New Year’s resolutions because I HATE the winter. I try to embrace it and up my hygge game by picking a new hobby every New Year’s Day. Ballroom dancing, bonsai trees, cake decorating (that one stuck), learning new languages, try every local wine, juggling, photo books and starting a blog/vlog!
Good goals, New Year’s resolutions or otherwise, have quantifiable results. Instead of just saying, “I’m going to be healthier this year.” Set goals like, “I am going to spend 30 minutes working out twice a week in January and three times a week in February and so on.” This way you can keep track of your actions instead of the general goal of “I’m going to be healthier.”
One of my greener goals for this last year was to not spend more than $20 on fast fashion clothing items. I only spent $8 and that was a total accident because it was an add-on sale to an online purchase. Oops!
Greener goals could also be something like, “I will remember my reusable bags every other time I go to the store.”
Some people think they can’t live a sustainable life because many eco-friendly items can be so expensive. In reality, it’s more about NOT buying as many things or buying quality items that will last you a long time.
Grab your phone or a piece of paper to organize your thoughts.
First, I want you to think about WHY you want to make more sustainable choices.
Is it for your own health, your children or grandchildren, endangered wildlife, underserved communities, your favorite places to travel, ecosystems in peril, keeping up with the Joneses, THE GENERAL WELL-BEING AND PRESERVATION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES (?!) or because you are bored and have nothing else to do? Dig down deep and think of your true reasons why.
Write that reason why down or use a picture to represent your WHY. In order to be reminded of your goals, hang it up somewhere (or get a tattoo of it!) Either way, make it visible in a place you can see it day to day.
Second, think about the things you really WANT or NEED for this year.
We know the differences between wants and needs. Write down the items you really NEED this year. For example, food and shelter are up there. Need those but you don’t need to live in a palace and eat bluefin tuna every day. Maybe your car was just totaled. You might need a car. But do you really? Could you take public transportation, ride a bike or borrow someone else’s? OK so you WANT a car (or you might actually need it.) Do you buy new, used, locally manufactured?
How about pants? MOST of us wear those. You find a pair of pants that are from a great green company, sweet! Meanwhile, you have 3 other pairs of pants in your closet that look just like those. Do you need another? This is just to get you thinking about what you truly want and need.
Third, decide what is important to you when it comes to buying products.
Some people are into zero waste, others want to be vegan. Write down the qualities you want to seek out in the products you buy. Some may have a heavier influence on your choices and be priorities. Put those at the top. Write down everything you can think of to look out for. We all have different backgrounds and beliefs so these will be quite different from person to person.
Here are some possible qualities you may be looking for:
- Local– puts money back into the community you live in and cuts down on energy needed for transport.
- Vegan- no animals were used to make the product.
- Vegetarian– not made from animal meat. There are many different types of vegetarians as well.
- Cruelty-free– animals weren’t used for testing a product. Look for the leaping bunny or the “NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS” bunny
- Certified Humane– standards set to improve the lives of farm animals
- Women and minority owned businesses- this gives opportunities to someone who may have been denied that chance in the past. Check out the MAIA Community for a business directory on products and services owned by women. There is a federally-certified database for women and minority businesses HERE. And a site to Support Black Owned Businesses HERE.
- Certified Organic-According to the USDA these products are “not treated with prohibited substances and animals are raised in living conditions accommodating their natural behaviors (like the ability to graze on pasture), fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not administered antibiotics or hormones.” There are so many levels to this and issues but we will have to explore that further another time.
- Durable/ Made to Last/ High Quality– will the product last you a long time or still be in style years from now? Are you willing to pay more for something that will last you longer and won’t have to be replaced multiple times which may cost you more money in the long run? Which trade offs are not worth it from an energy production standpoint? How about from a waste standpoint?
According to a 2011 UK study by the Environment Agency and a 2018 study by The Danish Environmental Protection Agency, they found those cotton bags should be reused 130-173 times to equal the energy put into producing the plastic HDPE bag. The paper bag 4 times and conventional tote (non-woven PP) bags had to be used 14 times. Consider reusing or seeking out used bags before buying new. Reuse those plastic bags that you have before sending them to a drop-off recycling location.
- –Compostable– organics that can be composted in backyard or commercial composting sites. Energy is put back into soil. Typically you look for items that are certified compostable but it all depends on your local composting site as to what they accept. Our county requires BPI certified compostable items. Remember though, we do not want these items ending up in our landfills because they might lead to methane production.
- Fair Trade– the people making this product are paid fairly and work in fair conditions. Check out Fair Trade Certified and Fair Trade International
- Certified B Corporation– they say it best on their site stating they are:
“businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.”
Certified B Corporation
- Sustainably Sourced– materials are sourced in a way that they are not harming the planet. Even better if they are adding more back into an ecosystem rather than just replacing what they originally took out of it.
- Affordable-do you support something that is expensive but the best or an emerging technology or do you opt for something to support that is financially available to the general public?
- Recyclable/ Reusable/ Minimal Packaging– packaging or materials for this product don’t just go in the trash or aren’t excessive amounts of waste
- 1% for the Planet– a company is part of an organization that donates part of their profits to environmental causes
- Carbon Neural/ Carbon Offset Shipping- the company pays towards programs that help offset the energy it put into shipping that package for you.
- Renewable Energy Powered- the store, manufacturing plants etc. are powered by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
- Works!-Generally speaking, there’s no point to buying something if the product doesn’t fulfill it’s purpose or does it poorly. If it doesn’t work well, it is a waste of your money, time and resources. You might have to buy something else or use other resources to fulfill that role. Check out reviews before you buy things to see what others thought about the product.
Fourth, get to know the different types of certifications.
Since it’s nearly impossible for us as individuals to find out exactly what’s going on in a company, leave it up to a third party to determine if they meet your standards.
In order to get the best information on a company, look to TRUSTED third parties for certifications. They have teams of people who’s jobs are to make sure the companies they certify are living up to the standards set for certification. They do the legwork and reporting, you just have to seek out the information. Then, read labels when you are buying things at the store.
Here are a few sources for legit certifications:
Do this with caution though! Keep these things in mind when looking for product certifications:
- They might have an overall message you agree with but when you dig a little further, you find they are an extremist group whose actions don’t reflect their basic stated values.
- Some certification systems are set up by companies themselves trying to cover their butts. They are banking on the fact that most consumers will not investigate further than the labels on their packaging. They may tell you certain products are healthy choices….compared to the other unhealthy garbage they are selling.
- Some products may meet standards for a certification but do not want to pay fees to become or stay certified.
- There are certification label knock-offs. You might have it in mind to look for a bunny on a cosmetic label but you might not remember what exactly that bunny looked like. A company could throw any old rabbit on their product and people will think it is cruelty-free.
Beware of GREENWASHING
Greenwashing is when a company is trying to make themselves appear eco-friendly when they are NOT.
If you are here reading this, I’m guessing you are the kind of person that looks for products with labels including words like “Natural” or “Organic.” If given the choice between two similar products you might pick the one with leaves or bamboo pictured on the packaging.
Companies know their customers are looking for greener alternatives to what they have traditionally been buying. They using greenwashing techniques to make their products appear more sustainable than what they are. See some more good examples HERE.
Some red flags that may indicate greenwashing:
- A company goes on and on about an environmental program they have or some small corporate green initiative they do but the company actively lobbies against the environment. Oh that’s great that you do paperless billing! How’s the lobbying going for that new mine of yours?!
- They try and make a standard they meet look voluntary when it is actually against the law to not comply. Try this chocolate! Not made with panda meat! (OK, that would be an extreme example.)
- There are no obvious mission statements regarding sustainability on the company’s website. Or if there are, there is no data to back up the claim that they are doing anything.
- No transparency about the things a company could be improving upon.
In addition to some of the above examples for greenwashing among certifications, keep an eye out for some of these key greenwashing words as they have no legal requirements for use:
- Eco-friendly
- Environmentally friendly
- Cruelty-free
- Non-toxic
- Recyclable
- Sustainable
- Natural
- Dermatologist approved (who’s? your dermatologist?)
- Ethical
- Plant based
- Organic Chemical Free (water is a chemical compound just FYI)
- Biodegradable- Almost Zero Waste has a good breakdown of biodegradable actually means
Wait lady, you just told me those are some of the things I might want to be looking for! Yes, but know just because it says it on the label, doesn’t mean it’s true.
If you suspect greenwashing:
- Google the company’s name plus the words “environment”, “sustainability” or “transparency”
- Go on the company’s website. If you can’t easily find a section on sustainability, it may not be a priority for them.
- Look to see if the company has any lawsuits or claims against them in regards to social or environmental issues.
1). Write down WHY you want to try out a more sustainable life.
2). Write down what qualities of a product are important to you.
3). Decide what you need and don’t need coming up in the next year. What do you want? Write those items down.
4). Familiarize yourself with the certifications that may go along with the qualities you are looking for in your products. Browse through their standards and initiatives, find out who runs that accreditation program and if there are any knock-off labels that resemble the legit ones.
5). Make yourself a screenshot photo collage of the correct labels to look out for.
6). Write down any specific greener goals you have for the year. Include a way to measure and keep track of your success.
You’ve made some goals and learned about what to look for in the products you want to buy. As a result, you are already a more conscious consumer! Let’s clean and organize the house so you can see what you have and what you need in WEEK 2.
If you prefer to learn by video, here ya go:
