How Green Is That Product Really?

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With hundreds of authorities out there purporting to measure how green products actually are, how do we know the authenticity of a green product? What does "natural" mean? "Organic?" "Carbon neutral?" Is being carbon neutral even enough? I'm always asking this question: "On a scale of 1 to 100, how green is this product?"

Well, why not create a scale that is regulated and required by law -- just like a calorie chart on our favorite food products? This would be a major step in the right direction. However, it would have to be government mandated so that it would appear on all consumer products and contain basic scores on: carbon impact, waste impact, toxicity, energy efficiency, labor practices used, etc.

The big challenge would be the verification of the information and the cost of obtaining it. Lifecycle assessments are extremely expensive and at this point there aren't standards for what is counted and what isn't. For example (and this may sound silly) but if you sew garments manually, should the respiration of your workers be counted as a carbon impact for making those snazzy pair of jeans?

Tom Szaky

Tom Szaky is the founder of TerraCycle, a New Jersey based company that makes fertilizer using worms and produces retail products from recycled goods. The firm was started while he was a student at Princeton University. Tom was named "The No. 1 CEO Under Thirty" by Inc. magazine in its July 2006 issue.