Green Products for Eco-Friendly Homes
As the green culture develops and becomes more sought after, more retailers and manufacturers are adding eco-friendly products to their merchandise. These retailers also go the extra mile by taking extra steps to make their operations environmentally friendly.
Why should you buy green products? Because buying green products lets companies know that you care about the environmental impact of the items you buy, and you are using your purchasing power to show it.
Here are some things to consider when purchasing eco-friendly products:
- Buy durable products such as rechargeable batteries, reusable mugs or products not made from plastic.
- Buy used products so you’ll save money and help Mother Nature by purchasing goods that do not require harvesting raw materials and expending energy to create them.
- Buy energy-efficient items. Look for the ENERGY STAR® logo when buying electronics such as televisions, DVD players, refrigerators and computers. All Energy Star appliances are certified energy-efficient products.
- Buy items made with recycled-content materials. This means that fewer natural resources were used to manufacture the product.
So where can we buy green products that are not only eco-friendly, but actually a pretty cool buy? Following are my picks for 6 of the best online green stores, each one with their own offerings of eco-friendly solutions:
Etsy.com provides you with an online directory of artists that sell handmade goods and use organic materials. You can even register and become a seller in their community. They have a varied selection that includes jewelry, art, clothes, greeting cards, clocks, ceramics, furniture, toys, and craft supplies.
Probably one of the most important green online stores is Bricor, who promotes water conservation. They sell water saving plumbing fixtures like low-flow shower heads, aerators and kitchens sprayers.
Buy Green is a major online store that sells earth-friendly products and looks to reduce their carbon footprint in their operations, from shipping products to where they get their office supplies, they look to reduce waste and conserve resources. They also purchase carbon offsets in an effort to reach a goal of a zero carbon footprint. They carry green products for use at home and office supplies.
Hipcycle is one of my favorite green stores online. The reason why is because they take old discarded materials to make new useful products. The concept is called upcycling, and their products include housewares, bags, jewelry, office supplies, garden items and clothing.
Olive Barn is a gift store that sells environmentally friendly products to use in your garden. Their items include seeds for growing herbs, greens, vegetables, and flowers. They also sell chimes, suncatchers, gardening gloves and tea.
Branch is a store in San Francisco that focuses on design and sustainability. They do not have the largest selection on the web, but their product quality and design is top notch. They sell almost everything you’d need at home including bathroom and bedroom items, furniture, garden items, rugs, kitchen items, pet supplies and toys. Their products are a bit pricy, but it comes with the quality.
Then there are the two heavy-weight online stores EBay and Amazon, who offer more than 20,000 green products, each one with its own positive impact on the environment. The best feature about these two is that they allow you to trade-in or sell used items when purchasing new ones.
