The Home Depot

Natural Health, July-August, 2007 by Stacy Adimando

The Home Depot is going green. Five years ago, the company stopped selling wood sourced from endangered regions of the world like the tropical forests of the southern Pacific Islands. Now it uses responsibly logged wood---certified by nonprofit groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)--in products ranging from pencils and paintbrushes to plywood and fencing.

The Home Depot also gets 94 percent of its wood from North American forests, which means less shipping from long distances and fewer carbon emissions. For those who want to avoid using wood altogether, the company has shelving, paneling, and flooring made from straw, a surprisingly sturdy by-product of wheat farming. To help shoppers find energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive products throughout the store, Home Depot created an "Eco Options" logo for labeling compact fluorescent bulbs, water-saving showerheads, and the like.

LEARN MORE: Vote with your dollars--find other products that have been awarded a Conscious Choice label at www.naturalhealthmag.com/doing_good.>

COPYRIGHT 2007 Weider Publications

COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning