Why You Should Care Where Your Products Come From & How They're Made

So we at HomeandBackyard.com fully understand that in today's economy all of us are looking for ways to pinch pennies. And purchases like outdoor furniture, solar patio lights, fire pits, and outdoor heaters these days are more "nice to haves" than "need to haves." Which is why we have a lot of reduced prices on products throughout our site.

There is something else though that we believe is really important to consider when buying "cheaply". I once heard a proverb that goes something like this "If you buy something that's made cheaply, you'll end up buying it twice - once cheaply and a second time a year later because the cheap one didn't last." While frankly I believe this to be true, there's also another important consideration. Most consumers don't have a clue where their purchased products have come from, who they were made by, what they were made with and how long they can expect them to last. We are a culture of we want it cheap, fast and of quality. I hate to say it, but you can't have all three.

Which is why this post is dedicated to another old proverb, this time from the ancient Greeks:

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

This means that we need to make decisions that aren't just in our own personal interest, but we need to consider the long term implications of our actions, consumption and buying habits. It's hard to say what the human and environmental cost will be to China and the rest of the world from their more than 10% annual GDP growth these past many years. But with the speed at which coal plants are being erected in China, and tropical forests are being cut down in Brazil and SE Asia, it seems safe to say that the cost will be very, very high.

At HomeandBackyard.com, we have put extra effort in finding and selling products that either promote sustainability - solar lighting, for example - or are made from FSC certified wood products - all of our wood furniture is - or is made from recycled plastic - like our CRProducts outdoor patio furniture. While not everything we sell fits into this category of sustainability, we are continuing to look for more products and options that fit this model. And as we do we'll let you know. Visit our Environmentally Friendly Outdoor Products section of the website here: http://www.homeandbackyard.com/prod_gen.cfm?altcat=eco