As public awareness grows about humanity’s impact on the earth, green home remodeling has seen a spike in less toxic, more efficient products. Or at least that’s how they’re marketed. This move has perhaps become too trendy, some environmentalists fear. “Greenwashing” refers to products furtively marketed as green—but that really don’t help the planet at all. Buying products that boast “eco friendly” all over their packaging appeals to people, even if those products do little to decrease deforestation and pollution. New innovations appear all of the time, but the most effective green home remodeling remains the kind that increases efficiency.
The problem with many green home remodeling products is that they’re often nearsighted. Products get marketed as combatants to existing environmental problems, but their design or components can lead to other, bigger problems down the road. The companies that just use “green” to make money rarely care about their actual impact on the earth. While a less toxic wood glue might better the air in your home, if its production and distribution methods are wasteful, it still damages the earth. To really make a home green, it’s best to make it efficient: using less water and electricity and insulating the walls.
Criner offers the choice to install sustainable appliances and fixtures, allowing our clients the ability to make their homes as green as possible. New green products often sound appealing, but if they don’t do much to conserve natural resources, they don’t make truly green homes.