When purchasing food, clothing and other products at a store, there are important factors to weigh out. How much does the product cost? Where does the product come from? How is the quality of the product? Another question that is increasingly more important is: how will this product impact the environment? Purchasing from specific companies is like voting with your wallet. Here are a few ways the products you buy could help save the environment.

Fair Trade Products

In the search for products that will help the environment, fair trade and organic products are a good place to start. In buying fair-trade products, you support companies that have fair labor practices. Fair Trade products come from farms that have been certified to provide fair wages and safe working conditions. In addition, producers on certified farms are paid a premium to apply to projects such as healthcare, women’s leadership initiatives and micro-finance programs, as voted on by the farmers and workers themselves. The companies that get fair trade certified are more likely to use locally sourced materials and partake in safe practices that protect and save the environment. Fair trade coffee, for example, comes from producers that pay fairly, use sustainable farming methods and avoid harmful pesticides. This is just one example of how the products you buy can help save the environment. 

Organic Products

In addition to a fair trade certification, buying organic products can help save the environment. In the United States, organic crops are required to be grown a certain way. Certified organic products must be grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, bioengineered genes (GMOs) and sewage sludge-based fertilizers. Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are harmful to the environment, so banning the use of these products helps keep harmful chemicals out of the environment. Many different products use organic materials or organically grown foods - and purchasing those products can create incentive for more companies to go the organic route. So many products from fruits to le-vel thrive reviews are made with organic material.

Charitable Products

There are also products or features that companies will sell where part of the price of the product will be donated to a cause or organization. Nonprofit organizations or companies with charitable foundations will sometimes create a product specifically to donate the proceeds to a cause. If you do your research, you can find an organization that donates some proceeds to wildlife conservation or to solve climate change. Investing in these products can mean investing in saving the environment. 

Waste-Less Products

Beyond products that are organic or sustainably produced, many consumer items come in large amounts of packaging. Buying products with recycled packaging or with no packaging at all is a way to keep large amounts of trash out of our waste stream. You can reduce your waste when buying in bulk, buying products that you can reuse the packaging from and when reducing your overall amount of consumption. Used bookstores, thrift shops and other re-sale venues are great for buying products that can be used or reused without creating large amounts of waste. This includes supporting businesses that recycle or compost.

Local Products

Arguably the best way to save the environment with your purchases is to keep your purchases local. While locally grown produce or locally crafted clothing might not be organic, the products have a much smaller overall carbon footprint because of the reduction in travel. So many products are shipped over seas or across the country, using gas to power large trucks, planes or trains. Without a cross-country travel requirement, your products are much more sustainable. 

When it comes to purchasing the products you use every day, buying items that will save the environment is like voting with your wallet.