As a consumer, it can be hard to justify coughing up over $20 for a bottle of "natural" dish soap.  Don't laugh at the price.  Go to your local natural grocery and you'll see it.  As consumers we want good stuff cheap.  If a product is eco-friendly there is a limit to how much we're willing to pay for the benefit of being green.  There's also a matter of efficacy: does the product work?  Lots of supposedly "natural" cleaning products have pretty labels and fragrances but are useless at actually cleaning.

Enter Clorox, who was named one of the "dangerous dozen" chemcial companies in recent years and knotted some panties when they partnered with the Sierra Club to endorse their Green Works line of cleaning products.  Clorox has brought to market a line of products that is both eco-friendly and is priced competitively with conventional cleaning products.  But are they really "green" cleaners?  Chemical giant Clorox has been accused of greenwashing it's Green Works products with claims that 99% natural just isn't good enough and the less than 1% that isn't natural is horrible and bad, etc.  Heck, months ago Treehugger even picked apart the product ingredient lists in an attempt to expose Clorox for b___sh___ing on it's ingredient labels.

Here's the deal folks.  Clorox made a lot of companies that produce overpriced eco-cleaners very upset when they entered the market with Green Works.  I've been shopping at specialty markets for many, many years and if you really don't know that "100% natural organic cane juice concentrate" on a label is a code word for "liquid sugar" or "natural vegetable-derived crimson colorant" is code for "red dye" then you're fooling yourself.

One of the reasons I've shopped at specialty markets for so long is because I have a horrible allergic sensitivity to most cleaning products.  I literally cannot walk down an aisle of scented candles and laundry detergent without holding my breath.  Using many conventional cleaners irritates my eyes and nose, causes sneezing fits, can make my throat burn and occasionally lead to full-blown asthma attacks.  Cleaning days around my house have always been a bit of a nightmare and even many of the so-called "natural" eco-cleaners are so chocked-full of essential oils and fragrances that they tended to be as bad or worse than the conventional cleaners.  

Then about a year ago Mrs. Leafy Green came home from Wal-Mart with a selection of Green Works cleaners and — this is not a sales pitch — I can tell you personally as someone who has suffered with extreme life-long allergies that I have had no reaction to any of the Clorox Green Works products.  Not once in a year.  Green Works is now the only brand of household cleaners we buy.

Critics might say that "99% natural" isn't good enough but the fact is the Clorox Green Works products are cheap and work just as well as their regular cleaners.  99% might not be perfect, but for an everyday eco-conscious consumer I'd say it's pretty darned close.

» Clorox Green Works

Here's a familiar scenario: You're standing in the aisle of your local supermarket with a container in each hand. In the left hand is your standard run-of-the-mill all-purpose cleaner. In the other is the same type of cleaner, however this one either has some sort of green/eco name, or a label proclaiming said cleaner is 100 per cent natural. The biggest difference you can see is that the one with the eco-label costs more. If you actually compare the labels though, the contents look eerily similar.

So in the end is it worth it to pay more for the supposedly greener option? Maybe, but you may have to use your best judgment before shelling out the extra cash. Now that consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their environmental impact, companies are cashing in on eco-guilt and coming out with products that often do nothing more than give shoppers a warm, fuzzy feeling and a sense that they've done something good for the earth. This type of advertising is also known as "greenwashing," in case you haven't heard of it.

As the article after the jump points out, many things are 100% natural: malaria, starvation and body lice to name a few. In other words, just because something is called "natural," doesn't necessarily make it a good thing.

Now take a deep breath, no one is telling you to stop shopping green. The article simply points out that you may want to take labels with a grain of salt and look at your motivation for buying these products. Are you tossing them in your basket or cart without a second glance simply to make you feel good about doing your part of the earth or are you actually paying attention and choosing the eco-friendliest option? The same goes for organic food and other items: the jury is still out on their actual health benefits, but when comparing the earth-friendly benefits to local produce, eating local is typically considered the greener option.

Read the article after the jump and tell us how you avoid greenwashing and shop green.

» Canada.com

Do you ever sit there and question the validity of a product's "green" claims? These days it seems every company is trying to capitalize on the big buzz words - green, eco-friendly, organic and sustainable are just a few that immediately come to mind.

The folks behind BuyGreen.com understand the challenge of trying to determine the truly green from the greenwashing. It was this confusing and frustrating conundrum that inspired the site, which features industry unique and proprietary green standards for all of the products they carry. Just check out the company's detailed list of green standards and you'll have a glimpse of their committment to ensuring they reveal a product's true green (or not-so-green) stripes. The four key areas they focus on are source material, manufacturing, usage and disposal - in other words, the entire life span of a product.

Not only does each item feature a rating emblem that includes each of these aspects (the emblem on good products are in color, bad products are gray), they also assign each product an overall score bewteen one and 100. The higher the score, the better the product is for you and the earth. And even if a product doesn't score as well as others, everything on BuyGreen.com is still a better alternative than the conventional version you'll find on other store shelves.

The company sums it up this way:  

What we are trying to accomplish:

☆ Making it easy for consumers and businesses to find a broad range of green products
☆ Put the rating and the product in one spot for easy reference – see the rating emblem on every product picture
☆ Creating a broad view for a wide range of products using a lifecycle approach
☆ Applying a standardized and transparent strategy for our customers
☆ At the bottom of every product page you will see a link that provides a full two page detailed report on the rating for that product.

We have attempted to create a comprehensive analysis in a simplified way all found in one convenient place.  We like to say there is no Black and White when it comes to Green.

On BuyGreen.com you'll fine everything from sustainable furniture, organic towels and bedding for your home, to eco-friendly paper for your office, and even earth-conscious flooring options for your next building project.

Check out BuyGreen.com after the jump to see their entire impressive collection!

» BuyGreen.com

Last winter I posted a quick blurb about a TerraPass making a great Christmas present.  I even bought one to offset the emissions of my humble Nissan Versa and considered getting one for my father who happens to drive a gigantic gas-guzzling truck.

For those of you who've never heard of them before, TerraPass is a company where you can quickly calculate how much carbon your car/flight/etc. is generating and you can buy carbon credits through TerraPass to offset your emissions.  In theory, this is done by investing your dollars in clean energy projects.  Some say it's the environmental equivalent to the Catholic church selling indulgences, and there's certainly a case for that argument, but it's also hard to deny that funding new clean energy projects is a good thing.

Nowadays, that is only a part of what TerraPass does.  Now they are morphing into a full-fledged online store complete with marked-up Made-In-China gadgets meant to help us lead a more eco-friendly life.  In fact, the TerraPass home page now defaults to an open products menu and encourages you to shop your little heart out.  Products range from good (the Solio charger) to utter crap (overpriced tire pressure indicators that'll flatten your tires) and I can't help but recall our own foray into online sales here at Ecollo.

That's right: just last Christmas we had our own online store here and after a bit of soul searching we took it offline.  It was too far removed from our mission.  After all, we want everyone to change what they do and how they live... and that mission doesn't include hawking a bunch of consumer goods.  Live and learn.

I can see what TerraPass is trying to do.  If you're willing to shell out $30, $50 or over $100 for a windshield sticker, why not pickup a $30 surge protector while you're at it?

Bill - "Hey Adam, we're funded out the wazoo and we made a ba-gillion dollars selling windshield stickers last year.  Still, I think we could make more money... I know! How about we start selling cheap plastic gadgets at a 400% markup next year?"

Adam - "Sweet!  Now I can get new rims for my Prius!"

Okay, so maybe that conversation didn't actually take place.  I'm sure the folks at TerraPass are a good bunch.  Still, you can't buy your way out of environmental "sins" and the last thing we need to do in this country is to buy more "stuff".  We buy too much "stuff" as it is!

If you do have hundreds or thousands of dollars burning a hole in your pocket, why not invest that money yourself in clean energy projects or environmental programs in your own backyard?  You'll get more of a warm fuzzy than you will from your overpriced windshield sticker.

 TerraPass took the time to write a response to this article.  Click here to continue the story and read TerraPass' perspective on their online store. Thanks for responding guys!

» TerraPass

In "Burn Up," an eco-thriller starring Neve Campbell, the former "Party of Five" and "Scream" star plays an environmentalist working for an oil company, who believes she's been brought on board to add some green to the company, but finds out they have ulterior motives.

Campbell says she doesn't always pick "message" films to work on but "it's always good when they do have something to say."

The character is a "green wash," explains Campbell, a term for companies who set up an environmental department just for show.

"The inner workings of the company are very strong and it's going to be very difficult for her to change things," she says.

Campbell, born and raised in Canada, also admitted that the environmental efforts in Calgary, where "Burn Up" was filmed did not meet her expectations, with no real priority for recycling. She noticed the contrast when she moved to Halifax to work on her next film and found her apartment there had separate chutes for recyclable items.

"I was kind of shocked coming from Canada," she says. "Growing up there, we already seemed very environmentally aware compared with the States."

"Burn Up," also starring Bradley Whitford, will air in Canada on Global on Tuesday, June 10 and Wednesday, June 11, as well as in the UK on BBC. No deal has yet been landed with an American network to air the two-part series.

» The Canadian Press