What is Eco-Friendly at Home Depot?
July 25, 2007
Posted by CindyC in : Opinions & Thoughts , trackback
This summer, my local environmental (moms) group is trying to raise awareness for eco-friendly options to backyard gardening, like organic fertilizers and push mowers. The group is planning is a display booth at our local farmer’s market and Home Depot has agreed to supply us with some garden products from their Eco Option Program.
Plenty of buzz surrounds this new Eco Option Program, both positive and negative. Home Depot began their Eco Option campaign several months ago and invited suppliers to submit requests for inclusion. According to the NY Times, Suppliers inundated Home Depot with requests (as sales under the program have seen 10 % sales increase). Out of 60,000 submissions, only about 2500 products were approved. The problem with an ambitious “eco-friendly” program is that there are very few certification agencies that separate fact from green washing. Per Home Depot’s website, they are currently relying on established programs like Energy Star, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) but are working with partners to develop broad standards that evaluate the sustainability of a product through its entire life cycle.
When I was at Home Depot last week, I took note of some products with the Eco Option label. For the most part, the products seem like reasonable fits – Energy Star rated appliances, solar power garden lights, electric power push mowers, low VOC paints, organic fertilizers. A couple of things bothered me though. First, most products are from large manufacturers who mostly provide “conventional” products but have a small niche, green line. For instance, the organic fertilizer is from Scotts, the same company known for its chemical fertilizers and herbicides. What about companies that are dedicated to natural and organic products, like EB Stone products? Second, a few of the Eco Option candidates seem odd. While perusing the garden section, I noticed that there was a cart of plants (tomatoes and some herbs) that had Eco Option label. What makes these plants more eco-friendly than other ones like bamboo or succulents? I asked the garden center clerk and he was equally puzzled. I had to do a bit of research on their website before I realized that the Eco Option plants came in biodegradable peat pots instead of the standard plastic ones. I guess I agree with that?
Perhaps my expectations are a bit high – after all, this is a new program and Home Depot is a large box retailer and not necessarily an environmentally-focused store. I do hope Home Depot is sincere in its efforts to expand and improve upon this program and I’m interested to see what the store is going to provide for our club’s initiative. Stay tuned….
CindyC atOrganicpicks
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Comments»
Not to say that big box companies becoming green is not a good thing, I am just instinctively suspicious of it. I am a novice gardener and can’t get much information from home depot. For any organic products or organic gardening knowledge, I always visit Common Ground at Palo Alto. The staff there are knowledgable and nice. They carry organic garden products, tools, seeds and books. All around a great place.
the biggest problem i see with the eco options program is that HD doesn’t think that consumers will ask questions, such as “what makes this eco-friendly?” they think they can slap a label on it and consumers will blindly trust it to be so. with so much greenwashing, the public is becoming more cautious. not only that, but consumers are more educated and know that “green” has many shades. they want to know what makes a product green and HD employees are not prepared to answer the question.