When it comes to products, the 3 R’s {Reduce - Reuse - Recycle} can help to determine how eco-friendly it is.

• Reduce the impact of the material the product is made from.
• Buy high-quality products that can be re-used easily and often.
• Recycle the scraps created from the manufacturing process.

Ask these questions about the product:

1. What type of material is the product made from?
   • Is it recycled?
   • Is it from a fast-renewing resource?
   • Is it produced LITE*-ly? (*with Low Impact to the Environment)
2. What is the product’s lifecycle?
   • Will it bio-degrade easily?
   • Is it durable enough to be re-used over and over again?
   • Is it recyclable?
3. How does the supplier reduce its impact on the environment?
   • Does the supplier aim to reduce its carbon footprint?

 Determining the “green”ness of a product can be a grey area. You’ll need to decide which components are most important to you. For example, using a local supplier is more eco-friendly than shipping in from another continent, but the organic cotton grown in Turkey and Pakistan puts less toxic chemicals into our ecosystems than conventionally-grown cotton in the U.S.