As sustainability and eco friendly, energy efficient, and green living have become increasingly critical, green products have proliferated, making it hard for us to know which to trust and buy. There’s a local, organically grown resource we can turn to, however: San Francisco government’s list of eco-friendly products.
The list of more than 1,000 environmentally friendly, green products was “created by and for” San Francisco City and County because of a 2005 ordinance specifying that the city buy green supplies over environmentally harmful ones, according to the list's website. Recycled materials and content, green energy, sustainability, energy efficiency, reviews from city employees and data from GoodGuide were evaluated.
San Francisco Leads in Emphasizing Sustainability, Green Living
San Francisco, the first city in the US to enact a green products purchasing rule, is proud of it. The lofty hope, the city says, is that the policy will “encourage market development of new, healthy, environmentally preferable technologies and products and will demonstrate the efficacy of this approach to other government agencies, residents and businesses.”
You can search San Francisco’s eco-friendly list by category--building materials, electronics, office supplies, paint, and so on. Some of the products are ones you’ll never need. Some of the recommendations might be ignored by all but the eco-obsessed. After you work on your car, for instance, remember to avoid degreasers with toluene, n-propyl bromide and ethylbenzene. Got that?
Eco Friendly, User Friendly List
Others among the environmentally friendly guidelines are easier to follow. Replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Recycle empty toner cartridges, and buy refilled ones, which are perfectly good. Provide a communal water dispenser (how else will you get office water-cooler gossip?) instead of bottles of water. (Better yet, I say, drink tap water).
The recent additions to the San Francisco green products list also include sanitizers by Clean Well and EO Organics and Rayovac’s green energy Hybrid Rechargeable Batteries.
“Graffiti removers” is my favorite category. Instead of toxic paint strippers, try baking soda. Who knew?
