Read It and (Don't) Weep

Earth Day is upon us, and hopefully has you thinking a bit more about your personal impact on the environment. If you’ve already been working to create a green home, congrats on all your hard work!

As you become more environmentally aware, you’re probably running across quite a few words that you haven’t heard—some of which sound like a bunch of crazy talk! If you’re confused by the difference between LEED and SEER (both are certifications for green homes), or have no idea what a slow food movement is, you’re not alone. Eco-friendly buzzwords are being slapped on consumer packaging and spouted off by talking heads, making it harder and harder to understand exactly what to look for.

Experts say that you should first look for green certifications on cleansers and home products to understand what standards they have been held to. If a food product claims to be organic, that means it must pass USDA standards and come from a farm where sustainable practices can be measured. When in doubt, you can buy locally to ensure that what you bring home has a lesser carbon footprint.

Speaking of sustainable, that’s a word that gets used a lot. It’s used to describe products and the methods of creating them that do less harm to the earth during the product lifecycle. Sustainable items are produced with minimal resources and packaging, and are often recyclable or can be used for a new purpose later on.

CNN shares a comprehensive list of green home vocabulary that can help you sort out what to look out for when you’re helping the planet. Being an educated consumer is one of the biggest steps you can take to do your part in going green<link to going green>! [CNN]