Money saving tips on shopping for the real eco-friendly products

Every one is realizing the need to go green. Want proof? Look at this year’s Nobel prize winners. Efforts to make people use environment friendly products are more aggressive and assertive more than ever.I bet you’re making efforts to go green yourselves. I, for one have purchased LED lights this year. Yes, I was inspired by the beautiful Christmas tree in Rockefeller plaza. The need to go environment friendly is more necessary now. But there’s a catch, how do we know if we’re really buying “green” products? Well, with these money saving tips, we don’t need degrees in biology to figure if we’re really being friendliest to mother nature and at the end of the day save more bucks.

• Do your research

There are online environmental agencies where you can do a little background check on the “greenness” of the products you’re eyeing for. You have fscus.org by the International Forest Alliance Stewardship to give you a complete list of wood-made products that were manufactured without any damage or waste, no over-consumption and over-harvesting. Made-by.com, a Netherlands-based organization monitors a garment’s “footprint” The footprint is a record of how the garment was made, from the materials to the actual production.

• Spot the label

Be sure to check a product’s label to see if it has passed environment safety standards. Look for (Design for the Environment) DfE logos in household cleaners. If this is mark is present, it means that the items are made with low-volatile organic compounds. If these compounds are in their highs, they can cause serious damage to groundwater and give out greenhouse gasses. The end result, well, we all now experience a dose of that. Just look at the 7 inches of snow in some states.

Also, look for “Energystar” in your kitchen appliances. This reflects that the kitchen products are energy-efficient. All labels are given by the Environmental Protection Agency.

• Think about the consequences

Most of all, what’s important is that we all let the inner environmentalists out. In our hearts, we know that even an inch drop is harmful. Because if we combined all the wastes even just in our block, the weakening atmosphere will be more paralyzed. So, let’s all do our part. If we do, we all not just revive mother earth, but revive our bank accounts as well.