At the heart of the “going green” movement is the issue of sustainability.

It’s about finding ways to address the needs of the current generation without fouling things up for generations to come. The mission itself seems simple and self-explanatory. Who couldn’t get behind something like it? 

Unfortunately, what “green” means in practice is rarely as simple as what it means in theory. When it comes to specific actions, it’s a tricky term to pin down. A hotel goes green by allowing you to reuse your towels instead of washing them daily. A printing company goes green by using vegetable-based inks. A restaurant goes green by using locally sourced, organic ingredients. All of these choices are certainly commendable! But what if that hotel is wasteful with the AC? What if that printing company doesn’t recycle? What if that restaurant uses disposable plastic cutlery?

With green marketing, a company can change one aspect of their business practices and claim to have “gone green,” implying a complete sustainability makeover even when everything else is business as usual. Such misleading tactics are often referred to as “greenwashing.” And who’s to say that whichever eco aspect a company’s targeted matches your priorities or is legitimately impactful? It’s like claiming you’ve gone blonde, when all you’ve done is color your tips.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the “green” equation is that the human component is conspicuously missing. Sustainability is about trying not to squander our resources, but it’s also about making sure we don’t contaminate and pollute the resources we’ll need in the future. And alongside our waterways and farmlands, the modern industrial economy is also polluting our human bioecology. Economic growth is correlated with growing rates of chronic disease, and many of today’s biggest chemical and consumer “innovations” come at the expense of human health and wellness. Preserving the planet for generations to come is very important, but what if the generations to come are too sick for it to matter?

At True Goods, we haven’t gone green ~ we’ve gone clean.

Clean is about bringing sustainability back to the basics – making sure the things you put in, on and around your body are biologically safe and non-toxic. It’s about making your day-to-day actions reflect what’s important to you to help create a better world. With clean, there’s no middle ground. Either all ingredients are the safest possible for you and your family, or they’re not. By “going clean,” there’s no need to choose between what’s good for the planet and what’s good for your health.

The True Goods team hand selects every single product – not just brand – that we sell, because we believe supporting the human component is the first step to building a sustainable future for everyone. After all, if manufacturers aren’t including harmful ingredients in their products, then they also aren’t dumping them into rivers, oceans, skies or landfills. By leveraging our purchasing power to support companies who honestly care about our health and wellness, we are proactively helping shape the truly “green” priorities of the future.