You can find some really good deals on various types of natural, organic products. They may make any number of claims towards being environmentally friendly, such as USDA Certified! Totally organic! And All Natural! You may feel elated knowing you are doing your part to save the environment, however in the back of you mind, do you wonder if what you are buying really is what it says it is? Do you know the eco-lingo? Here is your chance to catch up on your eco-lingo.
Congratulations! Making the choice to recycle cuts down on the number of useful items filling up the dumps, while saving energy of producing such items. Almost one hundred million tons of materials were sidetracked away from landfills and into the recycling industry last year, while employing thousands of individuals. Celebration is required by your choice.
Certified Organic - When a label features ?certified organic? this tells you that someone has checked to make sure the manufacturer claims are true and agrees that organic farming is being practiced. Although the guidelines that manufacturers must adhere to may vary from one agency to another, their intent is similar, meaning there is someone checking on manufacturer and seeing that they do follow regulations. For example, ?Australian Certified Organic?, has one of their nine government accredited agencies find out whether a product is actually manufactured organically. In other words, a product claiming certified organic hold more credibility than those which simply state organic.
USDA Certified - The United States Department of Agriculture or USDA have programs designed to reassure consumers that these products coincide with the claims of a manufacturer. For instance, this department only certifies manufacturers who avoid the practice of including chemical fertilizers and pesticides. There are similar organizations in other countries that assure their consumers of the same. In other words, when you see USDA Certified you can rest assured that the product is produced organically.
Plastic: Plastic containers are almost always accepted by recycling centers and curbside programs. There should be a SPI or Society of the Plastics Industry code, which indicates the amount of resin in plastic on the bottom of the container, inside the triple arrow symbol. Most often you will find numbers 1 or 2 there. The first are clear plastics, such as medicine or soda bottles, although they may be tinted, they are transparent. The second are HDPE or high-density polyethylene such as water and milk jugs. These are commonly recycled, since recycling centers can bale enough to sell easily. Other types of plastics are not so common. Number 3 are PVC or poly vinyl chloride plastics such as shower curtains and piping. Number 4 are LDPE or low-density polyethylene such as plastic grocery bags. Polypropylene food container such as butter or yogurt containers and outdoor carpeting fall under number 5. Polystyrene are plastic utensils and cups belong to number 6, and number 7 means "other", which means they are blends of various plastics and hard to recycle. You can choose other plastic packaging if your recycle center does not take any particular type of SPI codes, while choosing the types they do when shopping.
Paper: You can recycle paper, cardboard, newspapers, mail, catalogs, magazines and phone books. You can also recycle shoeboxes, pizza boxes, toilet paper rolls, gift wrap and paper towel rolls as well. Just about anything made of paper or cardboard is recyclable, just make sure to clean out any food particles.
Why do I care? Well, of course your standards are personal, you choose the products you will consume. If you are going green, you will want these things to matter and make a difference. I mean, what would be the point of purchasing organic clothing if the manufacturer just plasters any old label on the product just because you would be tempted to purchase it because of a eco-friendly label?
You will know what to look for by educating yourself and you will not be tricked.