In "Buying Green," Joe Layng recognizes that, like all choices we make, our decisions as consumers are more likely to be influenced by their short-term consequences for us as individuals (price, quality) than they are by their long-term consequences for society (environmental impact). He believes that the equation can be tilted in favor of greener choices by giving consumers immediate access to reliable information about a product's environmental impact at the point of purchase and proposes a way to do just that.