waste by buying products that: 

■ Are energy efficient 

■ Are used or reusable 

■ Are made with recycled content or are recyclable 

■ Have no packaging or reduced packaging 

You can conserve resources, save energy, and prevent 
Everything you buy affects the

environment, but some choices

are better than others.

“Green purchasing” Green purchasing involves learning 

means buying smart. Shop with the about all the ways that a product can 

environment in mind—that is, buy affect the environment during the 

products that help conserve natural course of its “life cycle”—from the 

resources, save energy, and prevent materials used to manufacture it, to 

waste. Green purchasing can also how you use it, to what you do with it 

mean not buying things you don’t when you’re finished with it—so that 

need. By educating yourself about you can make smart choices. 

the products you buy, you can make Use the tips and resources in this 

a difference in protecting the brochure to make yourself an 

environment. educated consumer. 

1 
time to think before you 

buy something—maybe 

Maybe you can think of 

an alternative to buying a 

product, such as renting a 

card. Shopping with the environment 

in mind will conserve resources, preInstead 

of buying disposable products, which 

are wasteful, buy things that will last 

a long time, such as rechargeable 

batteries and reusable plastic mugs 

for drinks. 

with packaging that can be reused or 

recycled. 

Buying things that have 

been used before means that your purIf the item is still reusable 

next person to use it is not using addiauthentic retro clothes, room accessories, and even sports equipment 

at your local thrift store. Shop 

online or at local stores to buy used 

CDs and books. 

shopping

2 

Did you know that 

since your parents 

were born, the 

amount of trash each 

American generates 

has doubled?* 

Buy smart. Take some 

you don’t really need it. 

DVD instead of buying it or sending a 

free e-card instead of a paper birthday 

vent waste, and save money. 

Buy durable products.

Avoid excess packaging. Look 

for products that have less packaging, 

or buy in bulk—you’ll have less to 

throw away. You can also buy items 

Buy used.

chase doesn’t use more resources or 

energy. 

when you’re through with it, then the 

tional resources either. You can find 
tips

Another 

way to save resources and energy is to 

swap with friends and family instead of 

buying brand-new products. Maybe 

you and your friends like the same 

video games. Why not share your 

games instead of each of you owning 

the same game? Or maybe you can 

rent the game first to see if you really 

want to own it. 

® logo 

when buying electronics such as TVs, 

designed to identify and promote 

Buying items made 

materials means that 

fewer natural resources, 

such as trees, were 

used to produce the 

products. 

made from recycled 

other materials are usually easy to recognize in the store—just read the 

Many stores carry recycled notebooks, 

pens, and other products. 

3 

Did you know 

that for every 

42 notebooks 

made with 100 

percent recycled 

is saved?* 

Share with friends.

Buy energy-efficient items.

Look for the ENERGY STAR

CD players, DVD players, and computers. ENERGY STAR is a program 

energy-efficient products. 

Buy recycled.

with recycled-content 

Products 

paper, plastic, and 

labels. Try starting with school supplies. 

paper, one tree 
make a difference?

how do my purchases

4

Buying “green” lets companies know that you care

about the environmental

impact of the products you

buy. Why would a big corporation 

care what you think? Because your 

current and future purchasing power is 

extremely important to them. In fact, 

companies spend $12 billion a year 

marketing their products 

to you.* Shopping 

“green” sends a message 

to the companies—that Did you know that 67 

you care about the envi- percent of parents 

buying a new car base ronment, and you’re not 

their decision on afraid to use your buying 

advice from their kids, power to prove it. 

who are not even old 

enough to drive?* 

Your purchasing choices

affect what your parents

buy. Your parents 

buy groceries and 

other packaged 

items based on your 

likes and dislikes, Did you know that young 

people spend or influence 

and they might even the spending of $300 bilbuy a car based on lion a year, or about 1 in 

input from you and 3 dollars spent?* 

your siblings. Your 

friends also listen to what you have to 

say when they decide what to buy. Use 

your influence to help others shop 

smart and protect the environment. 

5 
6 

—a collaboration of the Union of Concerned 

Scientists and the Environmental 

Media Association—promotes 

environmental awareness and 

positive solutions to young peois 

part of the Be, Live, Buy Different— 

Make a Difference campaign, 

which is a new national program 

the Center for a New American 

Dream. It teaches young people 

how to make a difference by buy-

— 

Communications International, and 

video and curriculum guide package expressly designed for teens. It 

includes background information 

sumption, media, and the environment. 

cost_of_cool_exp.html> 

helps 

teens and others calculate the 

impact their choices have on the 

environment. 

programs/sustainabilityindicators/ 

ef> 

for more

Use the following resources to find more information about 

how you can make a difference! 

of its readers try to 

use environmentally 

friendly products.* 

1.Act Green

ple across the country. 

<www.actgreen.com> 

2. www.IBuyDifferent.org

from the World Wildlife Fund and 

ing differently. 

3. “The Cost of Cool”

co-produced by the National 

Wildlife Federation, Population 

The Video Project—is a 26-minute 

and hands-on activities about con-

<www.videoproject.net/ 

4. Ecological Footprint

<www.rprogress.org/ 

According to Teen 

People, 62 percent 
7 

Claims brochure contains 

information about specific terms 

used to describe products, includnon-hw/recycle/greenads.pdf> 

—while 

mainly designed for government 

workers—contains great green 

purchasing resources and links. 

® is a program 

designed to identify and promote 

information

■ 

lists companies that sell green 

products, including book bags 

made from reclaimed rubber inner 

tubes, hats and mittens made from 

recycled sweaters, belts and jewelry 

made from bottle caps, and purses 

made from old license plates and 

hubcaps. 

■ Green

TM is a directory 

of green companies that are 

committed to social and environ5. EPA’s Green Advertising

ing “environmentally friendly,” 

“biodegradable,” and “ozone 

friendly.” 

<www.epa.gov/epaoswer/ 

6. EPA’s Environmentally

Preferable Purchasing

program Web site

<www.epa.gov/epp> 

7. ENERGY STAR

energy-efficient products. 

<www.energystar.gov> 

The Solid Waste Agency of

Northern Cook County’s

Eco-Friendly Marketplace

<www.swancc.org> 

Co-op America’s

Pages Online

mental responsibility. 

<www.greenpages.org> 

Buy Green Here
Take the Resource

Conservation Challenge!

EPA’s Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) calls on all 

Americans to prevent pollution, promote recycling and 

reuse, and conserve energy and materials. 

Achieving these goals means adopting a resource conservation ethic, purchasing more wisely, and using products that 

are easy to recycle and are made of recycled materials. 

For more information, visit <www.epa.gov/rcc>. 

8 
contributing valuable information to this booklet. 

*This information is cited on <www.ibuydifferent.org>. Special thanks to this joint 

program of the Center for a New American Dream and the World Wildlife Fund for 
United States 

(5305W) 

April 2004 

2

1EPA

Environmental Protection Agency 

Washington, DC 20460 

EPA530-K-04-003 

www.epa.gov 

Recycled/Recyclable--Printed with vegetable oil based inks on 100% (minimum 50% postconsumer) recycled paper.