SHOWROOM (by appointment): 1416 Clarkview Road, Suite 100 Mt. Washington, MD 21209 Ph: 410-828-0113
  • view cart / checkout
  • my account
greenology

green approach

Actually, it’s surprising how many definitions you’ll find. Here are just a few of the factors that can indicate if a product is green:

  • the materials of which it is made
  • the type of energy that keeps it running
  • the way it was manufactured
  • the impact of its production on the local environment and community
  • the impact it will have on the environment after its useful life is over

So what determines whether a product is green? Environmental organizations and manufacturers have developed a variety of standards, labels and rating systems, such as:

many definitions, many standards – how to narrow it down?
With so many definitions and standards for green products – many of which were created for building professionals – we at workingwonders faced a challenge: How to identify and communicate the greenness of the products we offer?

To answer this complex question, we offer two simple tools:

  • The workingwonders’ green guide™. Inspired by GreenSpec and Pharos, this comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand guide is based on workingwonders’ eight goals for greening. It features eight broad categories that correspond to the icons shown here and on each of our product pages. Use the icons to quickly and easily select the products that have the green attributes that mean the most to you.
  • Green Action statements. On the upper right-hand side of each product page, click on the “Green Actions” link to read about the manufacturer’s green philosophies, strategies and practices.
At workingwonders, we believe a product can be green in many ways. That said, because people spend about 90 percent of their lifetime indoors, we seek first to offer products that improve the air quality in your living and working spaces.

This includes products that clean and filter indoor air, such as air purification units and whole house systems, as well as a wide range of products that promote optimal indoor air quality, such as window shades whose manufacturing process neither uses nor creates any volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

the difference between green, greening and greenwashing
The green marketplace is changing rapidly. Companies founded on green principles are marketing alongside companies that are now just beginning to implement environmentally responsible policies. Still others are attempting to mislead consumers or leverage small green gestures into a larger green public image. It’s a challenge to tell which is which!

As with any color, there is a spectrum of greenness. Here at workingwonders, we believe that greening is a process. All of our products meet our leading greenness and design criterion for air quality. We affirm the green intentions of all our manufacturers, and we applaud and support them in their efforts to realize greater environmental responsibility.




tough choices for non-green materials – re-use or landfill?
In some cases you'll see flagrantly non-organic substances like recycled vinyl in our product statements...just how do we define this as green, you may ask?

Well, as we see it, greening is not just about using earth-friendly products, but also about dealing appropriately with the very unfriendly products that are already in our environment. We applaud visionary efforts to resolve this problem, and are proud to offer products from companies like C & A, who has come up with innovative products and programs to address the issue of vinyl-backed carpeting piling up in landfills.

The national benchmark for the design, construction and operations of high-performance green buildings.
A widely accepted industry standard developed by Building Green, Inc., a company dedicated to “providing information…to help building-industry professionals and policy makers improve…environmental performance and reduce the adverse impacts of buildings.”
A wide-ranging standard developed by the Pharos Project, a team of environmental scientists and attorneys dedicated to defining “a consumer-driven vision of truly green building materials and how they should be evaluated in harmony with principles of environmental health and justice.”
Many manufacturers are committed to corporate policies of environmental and social responsibility and have developed their product lines and manufacturing processes to implement these policies.