How green are you really Mr Gore?

I suppose the backlash against this recent Oscar-winner (for his anti-global warming film "An Inconvenient Truth") was inevitable.

Being an environmentalist and a consumer can mean some difficult choices.

How do you decide what products to buy in order to maintain your guilt-free lifestyle?

While out shopping, I often look at products with a critical eye, not just for quality but how it stacks up environmentally.

For every product that claims to be green there are some which are blatantly not.

I thought it would be fun to have a look at the worst offenders.

For me, the product that is the worst offender has to be the patio heater.

Considering that global warming is perhaps the most serious threat to our environment in the next 100 years, it seems utterly ridiculous that people would want to heat the outside air and chuck away so much energy.

We live in Britain, where summer weather is notoriously fickle!

At least the patio heater has no pretensions of being environmentally friendly.

One of the more trendy ways to help "save the planet" is to buy organic fruit and vegetables.

Yet, if you visit most supermarkets this type of produce is invariably covered in far more packaging than seems to be necessary.

A quick glance at the label showing the country of origin will give a big hint as to why this is the case.

Much of this food is produced in far-flung parts of the world.

While people may think that they are doing the environment some good by not buying produce that has been sprayed with fertilisers and pesticides, they do not consider the impact of the food miles or the packaging.

If you want to buy organic produce, why not consider a local scheme?

I have recently become acquainted with the baby aisle in the supermarket and was intrigued by the "biodegradable" nappies on sale.

While the claim may be true, most rubbish sent to landfill does not biodegrade very quickly because of the compaction that occurs when waste is deposited.

This forces out the air, depriving the rubbish of oxygen that would aid its breakdown.

It would be possible to dig up a landfill site and find newspapers that are perfectly readable from the 1960s*, possibly sitting alongside uneaten food that shows no sign of decay.

Biodegradable nappies would therefore be no better than any others in this circumstance.

Another product that is fairly new is the toilet paper that doesn't rip.

Marketed as being "very soft" and highly absorbent, this wreaks havoc in the sewer system.

Since it doesn't break down in the same way as normal toilet tissue, it can cause blockages in the system, especially in the screens at the sewage works.

These are just a few of my nominations.

Are there any products that you think are blatantly environmentally unfriendly?

I would love to hear your suggestions!

*Editor's note: Recycled paper made up 80.3 per cent of the raw materials for UK newspapers (including the Herald and Gazette) in 2005.