Okay, nowadays everybody says they are “GREEN”. But are they REALLY “Green”, or is it just a marketing spin?
Whilst there are many differing opinions about what makes something “green” or environmentally friendly, determining the true “greenness” of any product is not always as simple as it may sound.
This topic can get very technical and complicated really quickly. Often, when the scientists (marketers and politicians) start talking about “Green”, they loose most of us by the third sentence.
Various organisations have come up with different ways of checking the greenness of products; including “Cradle to Grave” & “Cradle to Cradle”. It is not our goal to explore the depths or merits of any particular methodology or even claim to have any real expertise in these towers of knowledge. Rather we ‘ll merely attempt to highlight important information that one requires when deciding on the merits of Eco-Logic Bamboo’s “green” credentials.
Environmental issues are becoming a major world topic, and the construction industry’s environmental performance is coming under close scrutiny particularly with regard to the availability and sustainability of certain materials, and the extraction of the large quantities needed to meet the needs and aspirations of the global community.
- Llewellyn van Wyk
Built Environment Unit, CSIR
For those of you who are confused by all the “Green” opinions out there, if you hang in and work your way through this post, you’ll get some real world commentary for your consideration. This will help you when deciding if our Eco-Logic bamboo (or any other built industry product) is really a suitably green product for your application and when comparing its’ credentials to other products.
Yes, this is an emotive topic – and yes, it’s going to press some buttons …
This post – due to it’s very nature, is destined to be a slightly long-ish one, so we suggest you fetch a cup of your favorite drink & settle into a comfortable spot. You can also navigate to the bottom of this page and get any of the pages emailed to you (also available in PDF format) for later reference. If you want to just see a summary, just go to the last page by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page or click on this link.
Please keep in mind that this topic is an emotive one, bound to stir up all kinds of controversies, so we have tried to stick as close to scientific studies and established facts as possible to keep the temperature down as much as possible. It is also a commercial one, decisions around topics like this can affect purchasing choices and ultimately someones pocket. And that someone is going to fight tooth & nail to protect that income, it can get real messy.
Are you a decision maker? Making decisions about specifying green products in the built environment?
So, if you are a decision maker, making choices as to which products to specify & which products not to, we consider this post an essential read. It is important that you make an as informed decision as possible. We hope to stimulate and provoke serious and careful considerations of the issues at stake here. Next page …
