Just what is eco-friendly products? another one of Gores pipe dreams?

I read this gobledy goop tripe all over Q&A, so how does something qualify for eco-friendly? Does it just appear? And when you finish with it does it just disappear? What requires nothing? Grass, sand, water? What purpose could it serve if it contains nothing, does nothing, and ends up as nothing? Or as with most things that make no real sense do you have different levels of “eco-friendly” if it only uses this much oil, than its this, or if it is hauled on a donkey cart by a kid in Mexico it is “this eco-friendly” Everything must be made, transported, and sold. Even if it is just the money issue, you still use either cash, check or charge all of these use fuel to move, ship, travel etc. Is this not just another level of hypocrisy from the “wacko” enviromentlest? Even the Internet uses elec. from coal-fired power plants, rubber encased cables, screens that contain mercury and so on. I know, I know, its the THOUGHT that counts, not the actual benifit.

Answer:
Again a complex question, which we can not really do justice to. It would really help people who answer if you broke this down.

I will answer your first question. What are eco-friendly products?

Answer: There are none in reality. Everything has a cost. Not just financial but to all the other systems around us. The best way to be eco-friendly is to do absolutely nothing. Now this clearly is not possible if you want to stay alive.

So the next question is how can I use less of everything?
This is a choice we make.

The answer to your question is: Limit your own consumption of everything.

I will look out for your other questions resulting from this one.
Products that have less of an effect on the environment than other similar products
Nice rant, maybe you should take it upon yourself to do something good for the planet. Plant a tree or recycle. Every little bit helps.
In short, an eco-friendly product uses the least amount to make the most. And it's not just wacko environmentalist that embrace this, it's the corporate world also. Have you noticed that CD/DVD packaging is getting smaller? Why waste the resources and money to produce a huge package that people are going to throw away? Make it simple and small and out of material that can be recycled. You are being eco-friendly and helping your bottom line. Unless you are against making money? Are you a communist or something that you don't like this idea? Have you thought of moving to a former Eastern block country where you can build CD cases from large wooden crates if you wish?
Technically speaking for something to really be classed as eco friendly, then a full life cycle analysis should be performed, which as you rightly say would include everything that has been done to get that product to market, as well as what happens to the finished product. (Very complex and long process)

In an ideal world this would be completed for every product on the market and this way consumers would be able to make an informed decision on their purchases. Due to cost, time and resource implications this is highly unlikely to happen in the near future.

What traditionally has happened is that companies made small changes, that in most cases didn't make a blind bit of difference. I believe that there is now a general feeling in many industries that this is no longer acceptable, due to a combination of consumer and regulatory pressures.

Many businesses have at least one major environmental / green product going, and this is a trend that I have seen growing over the past few years. Consumers are getting smarter and are now demanding that their eco product perform as well as their normal products. Some businesses have been quick to act on this and are in turn reaping the rewards - financially (from increased brand share) and from a PR point of view.

If at the same time we are moving in the "eco-friendly" direction, then as far as I'm concerned that can only be good news.

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