Be Smart. Buy Smart. Know Your Choices. |
|
 Are you an informed consumer?
Just about everything we do requires us to make a choice. We can choose what we buy, where we buy, and what we do with items once we've purchased them. It is difficult to trace all of our habits back to the environment, but just about every choice we make will somehow affect natural resources.
Like most things in life, the issues surrounding consumer behavior are not black and white. Using a reusable coffee mug might reduce the number of paper cups in the trash, but how much energy does it take to wash your mug in hot water? It's likely to drive you crazy, but better to be crazy and informed than sane and ignorant, right?
The information and resources found here are not meant to advocate for any particular choice, but rather to let you know what choices are out there and the costs and benefits associated with them.
Click here to order Pet Waste Pickup Postcards and Local Produce Postcards!
Click here for a list of more great informed consumer resources!
Be sure to check out the latest informed consumer news postings!
(Where'd You Get That?, Food, Lawn & Garden, Energy, Water, Waste, In the House, Personal Products, Green Development, Recreation, General) |
Where Did You Get That? |
Food |
 Just as it takes energy for you to travel, it takes energy for products to travel to you. Where were your goods produced? Did their distance require special packaging or climate control? Are there goods of equal quality produced locally? Are there price differences? Find out more here. |
 How much energy went into the production of your food? Was it grown organically? Were pesticides used? Were antibiotics used? What harvesting practices were used and how habitat-friendly were they? Click here to learn more.
News From the Farm |
Lawn and Garden |
Energy |
 Where do you purchase materials for your lawn and garden? Are the plants around your home native or non-native? Are any of them invasive? Do you use fertilizer? How much do you use and when do you apply it? Learn more here. |
 How much do you travel by foot? By bike? By bus? By car? How fuel efficient is your vehicle of choice? How much power do you use in your home? What kind of energy are you using? Find out more information here. |
Water |
Waste |
 Where does the water that comes out of your tap come from? When you pour it down the drain, where does it go? How much water do you use for showers? For flushing the toilet? For the yard? Is there anything around your house that gets picked up by rainwater? Learn more here. |
 What do you recycle? Do you reuse items? How much packaging is around most of the products you buy? What do you do with your food scraps? Do you compost? Do you pick up after your pet? Click here to find more information. |
In the House |
Getting Personal |
 What kinds of cleaners do you use in the house? How do you dispose of household chemicals and cleaners? To learn more, click here. |
 What are the ingredients in your personal products? How do you dispose of them? Find out more information here. |
GrEEn Development |
RecrEEation |
 Land development can have significant effects on environmental quality and the health of our natural resources. Proper land-use design is critical to protecting our resources and quality of life. Click here to learn more about Low Impact Development (LID), green building, Best Management Practices (BMPs) and much more! |
 Exploring our environment not only teaches us about the nature and natural resources around us, it can also be good for our own health! Exploring natural areas is a creat way to get active. There are many parks throughout North Carolina with trails for hiking, running, biking and paddling. Find out more here! |
Global Climate |
 Global climate issues seem to be everywhere you look. It may seem out of place to have such a huge topic covered in an initiative aimed at individual consumer choice and actions, but all things are connected. While global climate change does invite many, often opposing viewpoints, one thing is for sure - the systems that determine our climate are extremely complex! So, click here for resources that can help you understand it all and the latest news stories on the issue. |
Your Ecological Address |
Your Ecological Footprint |
 Just as you have a street address, you also have an ecological address. It has nine major components - river basin, topography, wetlands, groundwater, climate, soil, air, biodiversity, and energy. They are all connected to each other and connected to you. Your actions as a consumer can have far-reaching impacts on your ecological address. To learn more, click here. |
 One's ecological footprint is the amount of land and water that is needed to support one's given lifestyle using the current technology available. We need natural resources to survive, and using any natural resource will have some sort of impact on the natural environment. Your choices as a consumer can affect the size of your ecological footprint. Learn more here. |
Check out these other fantastic informed consumer resources! |
NEW RESOURCE
Responsible Shopper from Co-op America gives reports on the impacts major companies have on human rights, social justice, environmental sustainability and more. You can easily search for companies by industry and learn who owns your favorite brands.
NEW RESOURCE
SustainLane is an online green directory where you can find reviews of new green products and businesses. Sign up and contribute your opinions and ideas on green products that you have tried. You can even search by location for local green listings.
NEW RESOURCE
GreenYour is an interactive resource that provides carefully researched facts, tips, and product information on loads of topics. Writers and researchers collaborate to provide you with lots of helpful, quality information from greening your cleaning to greening your travel.
NEW RESOURCE
Good Stuff? - A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Things We Buy
A guide from the Worldwatch Institute that covers everything from chocolate to dry cleaning. Learn about the issues surrounding consumer goods, the choices you have as a consumer and where to go to find more information in the Good Stuff Guide!
NEW RESOURCE
MapEcos
This interactive map aims to present a balanced view of industrial environmental performance. Information is provided for more than 20,000 industrial sites in the United States and includes data on toxic pollution, environmental efforts, emissions and trends. It was created by faculty at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Harvard Business School and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, along with Dartmouth students.
The Green Guide
Product Stewardship Institute
GreenLight Online Magazine - Your Guide to Earth-Friendly Living
GreenerPenny.com - Small Change for a Cooler Planet
"Greener Choices" from Consumer Reports |
General Informed Consumer News |
Marketers, Not Consumers, Need Environmental Education NEW
'Green' Overload On Eve of Earth Day NEW
Is Earth Day the New Christmas? NEW
Cities Enticing Residents to Go Green NEW
Eco-Friendly Product Claims Often Misleading NEW
What Happened To Thrift?
Most Products' Green Claims Exaggerated, Study Finds
Check Out "Consumed" from American Public Media which asks if our consumer society is sustainable. Good question! |
