A sample of EcoLogo certified products on display include:

BioSource’s Pet Stain Remover, EcoEthic’s Cream Cleanser, BioVert Dish Cleaner, Shampoo by Nature Clean, Oxibrite’s Toilet Cleaner, Attitude’s All Purpose cleaner, Zebra pens, Nana Essence shampoo and conditioner, Merchants of Green coffee, Cascades’s Bathroom Tissue and Paper Towel from Atlantic.

A modern model of an environmental home, the solar house combines construction materials with technological innovations to create a healthier living environment. Throughout the house, displays help visitors to discover ways to “green” their home.

The solar house was designed by students from McGill University, the Université de Montréal and the École de technologie supérieure for an international competition - the 2007 Solar Decathlon - in Washington, D.C.

Visit Environment Canada’s site for more information on this environmental project.

New products receive EcoLogo certification every month, and I thought it might be instructive to look at the last several months to see if there have been any trends. Turns out there have. While I knew green cleaning was a hot topic, I had no idea how hot. Roughly one third of recently certified products fall under the EcoLogo category of hard-surface cleaners. And that doesn’t even include the handful of other products like detergent and hand cleaner that support the green cleaning trend.How does a hard-surface cleaner meet the EcoLogo standard? Here are some of the criteria:

• No glycol ethers or their acetates
• No alkylphenol ethoxylate surfactants (APEOS) (Note: environmentalists are trying to pass a bill in Connecticut that would phase out these suspected hormone disruptors in all products)
• No toxic metals, including but not limited to arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, silver and mercury
• No more than 1% by weight of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as used (after dilution if applicable), or more than 12% by weight if sold in concentrated form

Among the other categories of recently certified EcoLogo products are green power, personal care products (like shampoo) and toilet tissue.

According to The New York Times, EcoMom parties are the new thing. Instead of drinking wine over jewelry, home goods or Tupperware products, moms are getting together to strategize on greener living. Not wanting to miss out on a trend, we thought we’d put together our own EcoLogo guide to hosting an EcoMom party.

How to Prepare
Planning to do a little cleaning before company arrives? Bring out a green cleaner to do the job. Both Bed, Bath and Beyond and Linens N’ Things carry Greening the Cleaning’s (GTC) Citrus Sage All-Purpose Cleaner. Among the many criteria it meets for EcoLogo certification, the GTC cleaner has less than 1% by weight of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and low aquatic toxicity.

What to Serve
Since moms are often tired by the time they get to an evening party (I know this first-hand), why not have coffee available for those that could use a little caffeine pick-me-up? Merchants of Green coffee is available online and produced under sustainable conditions, with careful consideration given to everything from where the coffee beans are grown to fertilizing and drying methods.

Taking Notes
The most environmentally-friendly way to keep track of green strategies is to commit them to memory. However, if your guests don’t have photographic recall, think about providing them with writing materials for note-taking. Office Depot carries Zebra® Jimnie® Clip Recycled Retractable Ballpoint Pens. The EcoLogo-certified pens contain 75% postconsumer recycled content including material from car headlights, CDs and recycled cell phones!

New Product Sample
Typical mom parties do revolve around shopping, so it can’t help to have a green product or two on hand to show off. Consider Nature Clean shampoo and conditioner. In addition to being EcoLogo-certified, Nature Clean products can be ordered online and delivered with carbon-offset shipping. Lather, rinse, repeat!

Tis the season for resolutions and the green blogs are full of them. Green Daily says three quarters of Americans plan to be more environmentally responsible in 2008. The Green Daily has a Top Seven resolutions list that includes using recycled paper products at home and reusable bags for grocery shopping. Here’s our contribution to the New Year’s resolution melee. You can start small and still make a big difference in the next 12 months.

Clean Green
Even if your home isn’t spic and span, the occasional good scrubbing can use an awful lot of liquid cleaner. In 2008, consider using a greener cleaner for wiping down bathtubs and countertops. The EcoLogo standard for environmentally-preferable cleaners includes strict requirements for toxicity, biodegradability and bioaccumulation, prohibited and restricted compounds, physical properties and packaging. In addition to being better for your health, these cleaners reduce the potential for smog formation, ozone depletion and greater landfill waste.

Product spotlight: Looking for an EcoLogo-certified cleaner to start the year off right? Among many other options, check out “Imus Greening the Cleaning” cleaner on retail shelves.

Become a Green Advocate at Work
Whether you work in small office or a large corporation, you can make your voice heard in the procurement office (or the admin assistant’s cubicle, as the case may be). Let the person in charge of buying office supplies know that you are in favor of greener materials, and provide information on the purchasing options available. Pick one category of products to start: paper, envelopes, garbage bags, cleaning supplies, office machines, you name it. There’s probably a greener alternative than the one that’s currently being used.

Product spotlight: Boise Aspen brand paper meets EcoLogo requirements, scoring well across an array of categories including resource consumption and energy use in the manufacturing process. Plug in your zip code to see where to buy.

Make Home Improvement an Environmental Improvement
Spring seems like an awfully long time away, but in a few more months you’ll likely start thinking about new home improvement projects for the year. Before you start making plans, consider the materials you could be using. From paint to flooring, there are environmentally-preferable options out there.

Product Spotlight: Start your painting job with a greener primer - one with a low concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). There are many choices, including Benjamin Moore’s Fresh Start All Purpose Primer. (Product fact sheet in PDF form)

Last year New York became the first state in the US to mandate eco-friendly cleaning products in schools (accepting, among select others, EcoLogo-certified cleaning solutions). And while New York’s leaders clearly want to demonstrate their love of Planet Earth, the biggest catalyst for the state law was the desire to reduce people’s exposure to harmful cleaning substances.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor pollution can be two to five times more hazardous than outdoor pollution, aggravating allergies and other respiratory problems. I’m lucky that I’ve never had to deal with a respiratory illness, but my friend’s asthmatic son was admitted to the hospital just days ago for labored breathing. While I certainly wouldn’t blame his school for the hospital admission, the incident has made me wonder what in my friend’s son’s environment might be making him sick.

In light of the health benefits, it seems that schools (and states and countries…) everywhere should be motivated to make a quick transition to green cleaning. And given that so many green alternatives are available in the cleaning sector, it’s hard to understand why other states wouldn’t follow New York’s lead.

Perhaps a good New Year’s resolution?

As for school procurement offices, there’s no reason not to start buying green cleaning supplies on your own, and demanding green cleaning from your vendors.