Green or Not? 10 Green Facts to Test Your Eco-Smarts

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Published: June 25, 2012
By: Karin Beuerlein
1Comment

Can you separate the green facts from fiction when it comes to eco-friendly claims? We give our verdict on 10 home products and practices. What’s yours?

Gray is the new green: Just because something is marketed as green or offers green benefits doesn’t mean that there aren’t other factors that temper its green-ness. It’s up to you to decide what level of green you’re comfortable with based on energy efficiency, manufacturing processes, health concerns, safe disposal, and payback — a swoon-worthy mix of variables.

To help you out, we did some research and found that some things can be judged reliably green — and worth your investment of time and money. For the other gray stuff, we provide our point of view so you can make the smart decision for you.

1. Buying a product labeled “organic”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates the term “organic,” so it can’t be used simply as a marketing ploy. Organic products must be “produced without antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, irradiation, or bioengineering.”

More: 6 Green Terms: Which Ones Can You Trust?

HouseLogic Verdict: Green

What’s your verdict?

2. Buying a product labeled “natural”
3. Replacing old, drafty windows with new ones
4. Installing solar-powered attic fans
5. Installing a geothermal system
6. Replacing inefficient incandescent bulbs with CFLS
7. Throwing away a 20-year-old refrigerator that still works
8. Using recycled rubber mulch in your garden
9. Installing a tankless water heater
10. Installing a white roof

Next: 2. Buying a product labeled “natural”

Karin Beuerlein

has covered home improvement and green living topics for HGTV.com, FineLiving.com, and FrontDoor.com. She has also written for dozens of national and regional publications in more than a decade of freelancing.

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My wife and I are in our early 60's if we could gc back to Utah to live a demand water heater would be a Green opiton,but if you were to look in our water heater closet you would find a 4o gal. water -gas version conventional that was installed about 25 Jun 2012. theTexas Gulf Coast doesn't seem likely to ever even come close to being a positive move for us --just a waste of GREEN money.
Posted by Harold on July 01, 2012