Supermarket sweeps.

Gone are the days when green goods could only be found in health food and specialty stores. Now they're filling the shelves of local supermarkets and corner groceries. These new products promise to work "the natural way," and often splash attention-getting symbols or claims on their labels, such as "We Care," "Non-Toxic," "Biodegradable," "100 Percent Recycled" and "Recyclable."

New products--from glass cleaners to trash bags to toilet paper--arrive almost weekly to meet a growing consumer demand. Some are made by independent companies determined to offer quality products at reasonable prices, while others are marketed by industry giants who see the potential to cash in on the booming trade in supermarket eco-fare. But how many perform as advertised?

The E staff decided to hit the stores ourselves, and tried out--as discerning consumers--some of the products. We took the stuff home and attempted to judge it against the accepted standards of the industry. Here are our observations:

Paper, Paper Everywhere

For a great line of paper products, try Tree Free by The Tree Free Company. The company's toilet tissue, paper towels and napkins are 100 percent recycled (all with a minimum 60 percent post-consumer content) and whitened without bleach. The standard toilet paper isn't harsh, but if you like to pamper your posterior, you can do it with Tree Free's "ultra soft" tissue. And don't be fooled by the price: Although the paper seems costly at $1.99 for four rolls, it's a compressed pack with 560 two-ply sheets (315 square feet) compared to Marcal's 250 sheets (137.5 square feet). Tree Free's paper towels and napkins are also good buys, with the sturdy towels at $1.19 per roll and a compressed 450-pack of napkins going for $1.99.

All of Tree Free's claims are verified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), an independent Oakland, California-based environmental claims reviewer. And each year since 1992 the company has won an Environmental Protection Agency award for having the lowest toxic emissions of any integrated paper mill in the country. Thumbs up for Tree Free.

"Paper From Paper, Not From Trees" is what you'll find with Marcal products. Marcal offers a line of competitively priced, non-chlorine-bleached, 100 percent recycled toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and tissues. The toilet tissue ($.89 for four non-compressed rolls), napkins ($1.39 for 250) and paper towels ($.79) are bargains and have high post-consumer content at 60 percent each. Facial tissues ($.89 for 175), however, have only a 20 percent post-consumer content. Marcal Vice President Peter Marcalus says he company sometimes uses more pre-consumer content to get the features most people want--white (not buff) coloring, and a strong yet soft texture. You won't find. Marcal products in compressed packs like some of its competitors, but buying Marcal has its advantages, including "family" sizes to boost savings and reusable drawstring bags.

Much of Marcal's post-consumer content comes from waste paper collections (magazines, catalogs, junk mail, school and office paper) from over 1,000 communities across the country (including E Magazine, here in Connecticut). The Marcalus family, which owns the company, is committed to community outreach education programs and reducing the waste stream. Marcal has been recycling for almost 50 years.

Brawny paper towels have long made the claim "100 percent recycled." As one E staffer put it, "This product is exactly a effective--neither more nor less--than non-recycled brand-name towels." That's because, with only a minimum 10 percent post-consumer recycled content, there really isn't much difference. It's a good first step for the paper giant James River Corporation, which also markets Quilted Northern toilet tissue in the same way--but it's not revolutionary. The paper industry has been recycling scraps from its own production process ("pre-consumer" waste) for decades, so we're not that dazzled by this marketing technique. We will be when we see more bulk and less brawn in these products.

The same holds true for the Green Mark brand, which decorates its packaging with trees and mountains and makes statements that don't tell the whole story. The back of its toilet paper label says the product "is kinder to the environment because it's made from 100 percent recycled paper (10 percent post-consumer, 90 percent pre-consumer) with no color additives or scents." The lack of additives and scents is indeed good for the environment, but the minimum post-consumer percentages are very low--so we're not impressed. This product may be inexpensive, but ifs not necessarily a bargain for the Earth.

Clean and ... Green?

Take a hike, Mr. Clean! Harvey's Organic Power is just as h on grime, but it tackles the dirt without any chemicals, perfumes, dyes, animal products or animal testing. It's made with de-ionized water, coconut and vegetable oil-based surfactants, and little more than salt. There's virtually no smell to it--if it weren't for the way Harvey's works, you'd swear you were cleaning with water. And although its maker, Harvey Universal of Torrance, California, does not recommend it, the all-purpose cleaner is safe enough to drink. One woman (not from E!) even added it to her gravy, insisting that it tasted better! Harvey's makes several other products, including glass, carpet and upholstery cleaners.

If clean is more important to you than shine, try EECO cleaners from EECO Products, Inc. EECO's "enzymatic-based technology" bathroom and glass cleaners do take away the dirt and even settled-in grime with a little elbow grease, but we thought they left a chalky residue and streaks. The scent reminded us of something other than the "pleasant outdoors," but it's not offensive. Although there are some cleaners we liked better, we didn't have any major complaints with this one.

Its name may be Simple Green, but the story behind it isn't so simple. Sure, it "works well on carpet stains, especially blood!" as one member of our staff said, but manufacture Sunshine Makers of Huntington Beach, California, has had some run-ins with regulators. In 1992, for instance, the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus found, in response to complaints made by The Clorox Company, that Simple Green's "generalized environmental claims were not substantiated." (This despite the $1 million Sunshine Makers spent on independent testing to prove its claims.) The matter was eventually turned over to the Federal Trade Commission, but we were unable to get further information from them.

Life Beyond Glad and Hefty

According to Martin Wolf of SCS, the main thing to look for in an "environmentally friendly" trash bag is a large amount of recycled plastic. If you want quality as well, try Renew trash bags from Zeta Consumer Products Corporation. They are SCS-certified and offer 100 percent recycled material, with an impressive 60 percent post consumer content. The kitchen type can stand up to a good stuffing, which reduces trash day load. The box size is a bit bulky, but we couldn't find much else to complain about.

Ruffies Eco-Choice tall kitchen bags, on the other hand, are a little weaker in the knees. They split readily when holding jagged-edged objects, but otherwise held up. The packaging is commendable, with a carton made from 100 percent recycled paper (25 percent post-consumer) and a highly compact roll-type access to the bags. Unfortunately, the bags themselves are two-thirds virgin plastic (the rest is post-consumer plastic). Overall, Ruffies doesn't seem to be the best "eco-choice."

Top Crest trash bags, which are distributed by Topco Associates, certainly look the part. There is a green strip on the outside of the box spouting "We Care." But what do they care about? At first glance, it would appear to be the environment. But the product doesn't offer much to support the claim. The box insists: "Polyethylene plastic, when properly incinerated, breaks down into harmless carbon dioxide and water vapor. When used in a landfill, it acts as a non-contaminating inert material." Hooray for poly plastic, but where's the green advantage here? The box also claims to be made "from recycled materials," but there's no listing of pre- or post-consumer percentages. And the bags themselves? They work fine, but the far from-explanatory environmental claims made about them were unsatisfying.

When shopping for household products, don't be fooled by pretty "green" packaging and prominent recycling symbols. Companies should be able to justify their broad claims with hard facts, or all the "green" washing might turn out to be, well, just greenwashing.

RELATED ARTICLE: Braking the Eco Codes

The best thing you can do as an ecoconscious consumer is look beyond the splashy labels, read the fine print, understand what the claims mean-- and sometimes check them out. Here are a few of the most common:

Biodegradable: Products that are "biodegradable" break down into elements found in nature in the presence of air, water, bacteria or sunlight. However, since most landfills do not allow exposure to those necessary elements, many so-called biodegradable products simply don't break down. Cleaning agents that claim biodegradable ability also may not, depending on where they end up.

Earth Friendly: Terms like "Earth Friendly" or "Safe for the Environment" are too broad and can often be misleading. All products have some impact on the environment, so it is best to choose those that are the least damaging. But be sure to look for specific, substantive claims, such as post-consumer recycling content and recyclability. It's also helpful to look for a certification of the product's claims from an independent organization (such as Oakland, California's Scientific Certification Systems or Green Seal, a Washington, D.C.-based labeling organization).

Non-toxic: Another ambiguous phase. There is not yet an agreed-upon definition of what is "non-toxic" to the environment, and some products that are not hazardous to people may be to fish or wildlife. Don't believe the claim unless it's fully substantiated--or read the ingredients and contact your local poison control center.

Recycled: Recycled items are those that have been made from previously used materials ("post-consumer") or scraps from a manufacturing process ("pre-consumer") that may have otherwise ended up in the waste stream. The higher the post-consumer content, the better.

Recyclable: A product is recyclable, or able to be made into other products, only if is collected in your area and sent back to a manufacturer to do the recycling. Also, something "recyclable" is not necessarily "recycled."

CONTACTS: Green Seal, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, DC 20009/ [phone]; Scientific Certification Systems, 1 Kaiser Plaza, Suite 901, Oakland, CA 94612/[phone]; Council on Economic Priorities (publishes Shopping for a Better World), 30 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003/[phone].