Sustainability ups the ante on counting individual "green" steps. To create a sustainable product, all the steps must be "green". Further, each step must contribute to the whole by returning as much energy as it uses. This is a high standard. Technically the production, harvesting and delivery of an item must not use more cumulative resources than that item will save through its use.
Here is just one real life example of a sustainably made product. In Switzerland there is a woolen mill that sets the standard for the rest of us. The factory owners buy virgin wool from the locala sheep farmers to turn into high quality, non-poluting, woolen fabric, which it ships far and wide. Working with upholsterers and clothiers from all over the world they receive back used and worn wool products which are then shredded, mixed with sheep manure and used as mulch on local pastures for the same sheep that provide raw wool for the mill. In sustainability each step contributes to the next step and creates a circle of exchange or enhancement, ending where it originated.
Watch for the words "green" or "sustainably produced" when you are shopping. Support a healthy envieronment by buying as "green" as you can.