What makes a cleaning product "eco-friendly"?

There are a lot of commercial eco-friendly cleaning products and online recipes for green cleaners out there. But a truly sustainable product needs to have more than "baking soda" listed on the ingredients. There are other things you need to watch out for. Here's some questions you might want to ask yourself:

Where do the items/ingredients come from?

Just because something is non-toxic when used in your home does not mean that it's production is also environmentally friendly. 

Is the manufacturer socially responsible?

In other words, does the manufacturer exploit the workers who mine/collect/make the product? 

How is the product packaged?

What I mean here is that sometimes the product inside the package is "green" but that green product is wrapped in multiple layers of junk. If you are buying a cleaning solution look for the concentrated form. A concentrate may be equivalent to 10, 20, or even 40 bottles of "ready to use" sprays. I have a cleaner that I use that can make 64 gallons of cleaner from one gallon of concentrate. That means I can do a lot of cleaning and I only have one bottle that I have to recycle.

What do they mean by "Biodegradable"?

Is the whole item biodegradable or only part of it? And how long does it really take to break down? If the product is ultimately flushed down the toilet or down the sink what kinds of effects will it have "down stream" before it breaks down. And after it breaks down, what's left? Are the byproducts toxic or harmful in any way?

Why is the manufacturer calling the product "Green"?

Sometimes green products are made of a little recycled material, but not very much. Or it is recycled, but not biodegradable so after you use it it's just going to end up in a landfill for a thousand years. Or one of the ingredients is environmentally friendly, but there are also toxic ingredients in it.

Buying green cleaning products is kind of like buying food. Just because some cookies are advertised as "Low Fat" doesn't make them healthy if they have extra sugar to compensate for the lower fat content. For food to be healthy it needs to be more than just "low fat."

Get the right information
So finding out all about all this is a difficult task. Don't despair. There is help out there.

See this video interview with Scot Case of terrachoice.com
GoodGuide.com is also a very good place to find information.