New Ethical Consumption Series: Sustainable Living in Home Improvement

This post marks the beginning of a series on how to incorporate ethical consumption considerations into home improvement.  At this point in my life, the topic of green consumerism in home improvement is very personal to me, as my husband and I are in the midst of fixing up a nearly hundred year old home in Connecticut.  While we purchased our house with dreams of filling our home with green products, we have quickly learned how the constraints of pragmatism seep into decisions about what products we use in our home improvement projects.  Here are some considerations that have affected our decision-making along the way:

Living green on a budget

A number of my previous posts in the CSR section have compared traditional products like Windex to innovative green products made by companies like Seventh Generation.    For me, paying a few cents or a few dollars more to promote the ideals of ethical consumption seemed like a no-brainer, but I become more sympathetic to those unwilling to pay a premium when the conversation shifts to decisions that involve hundreds or thousands of dollar premiums to promote green living.

Weighing sustainable living ideals against aesthetic considerations

Green products are often sleek and serve as wonderful accents in the context of new construction.  But will today's modern efficient toilets stand out like a sore thumb in a vintage bathroom?  Not all green products are available in styles appropriate to old homes---- yet!

What does green really mean?

Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned is that not all green products are created equal.  Consider a claim that a given product is made of a renewable material: wood.  Does the fact that wood is in theory renewable say anything about whether the product is made from sustainable sources?  And does environmental awareness dictate that we should pay more for a roofing material made from recycled car bumpers if the material itself is less energy efficient than a product made from non-renewable sources?  Greenwashing aside, there are an abundance of tradeoffs under the green umbrella, making it difficult to know how to allocate precious home improvement dollars between products that claim to be non-toxic, sourced renewably, or more energy efficient.  Nor are programs like Energy Star particularly helpful in navigating the abundance of products that claim to be green.

If you are interested in understanding the nuances of choosing roofing materials, identifying sustainable sources for flooring material, or selecting a brand of non-toxic paints, then stay tuned for a series that will provide less in the way of green tips than realism about the claims artfully woven into today's green branding.  Moreover, please weigh in with your own tips on similar topics, and let me know if there are additional categories of sustainable living considerations that you would like me to explore in this ethical consumption series.

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