The term "green" comes from the belief that our health and the planet's health is dependent on nature's innate ability to provide us with clean air, food and water. The terms "clean" and "green" indicated the undisturbed cycles of nature providing what is healthful for our bodies. Many of our activities and much of what we produce in the world today disrupts nature's cycles and ability to keep us vibrantly alive. The word "green" has become a synonym for a healthier life. And, in the building industry we are hearing about and being offered "green" choices. How "green" are these choices?
As you probably know, there are many, many steps to change a lump of coal into a plastic pop bottle, or get Friday night's steak off the hoof and on to your grill. Each step along the path from raw ingredient to finished product can be classified as "green" or not "green". Any step in a given process can have a negative, neutral or positive ripple effect on our environment. A "green" step is considered to have a neutral or a reduced negative impact on the environment, and therefore on your health.
Green Design Continued