So, the new “buzzwords” are:
Low Fat, High Fiber, All Natural, Free Range, Under New Management, Low Tar, Diet, Whole Grain, Fair and Balanced.
So this means:
Low Fat Computers, High Fiber Dental Floss, All Natural Plastic, Free Range Carpet, Under New Management Chocolate, Low Tar Plasma TV, Diet Motor Oil, Whole Grain Lamps, Fair and Balanced Pencils
I used to see so many buzzwords when I worked in retail that I barely even notice them anymore.
What I do notice is that many people will buy into anything, just so they think they’re doing something good, either for themselves or the environment.
I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s becoming overkill.
A lot of the things I do are environmentally friendly. I grow my own produce, am responsible with resources like money and the air I breath, I don’t litter, I recycle, use my local free-cycle and when I craft, it’s usually up-cycling. That said I don’t call myself an environmentalist. I don’t go out of my way to do things on the sole basis that it will save the planet. I am more a believer in stewardship and I am resentful of the smug people who are “Green” yet fall into the consumerism trap.
Being a savvy consumer will help you when it comes to buying any kind of product. Clearly, there are companies who are unscrupulous enough to say anything to make a buck, and there are companies who have a well-deserved reputation for quality and being evironmentally conscious.
You have to be able to distinguish between corporations that are making a real difference in the way they do business, and corporations that do not.
Specialty Organic-Food markets is not what they seem on the surface. While the question is whether not using pesticides and fertilizers offset the harm caused by the transportation used in organic farming. Since you pretty much transport all non-organically farmed products anyway, I’m not sure if organic farming is better. Doesn’t it make more environmental sense to purchase locally produced farm products anyway?
Or you can just grow it yourself.
You also must remember that not all transport methods are equal. Organic produce doesn’t last as long as non-organic, so it is generally shipped very quickly. Shipping overnight by plane is a lot more polluting than transporting by ship or train. Farmer’s markets and even large grocery stores often sell organic foods at more reasonable prices.
Carbon Credits and Carbon Offsets is another scam because it’s being spun as “It’s ok to be irresponsible because you are paying for it”. For example, many cars have an “Enviro-Lease” option (read, you pay more) that means it comes with 45,000 miles worth of “carbon offsets” so you can drive your $90,000 V-8 gas-guzzler guilt free.
Ethanol made from corn is another problem because it’s food competing with fuel. In cases like that, everyone loses.
The rising cost of food is a horrible thing and what if it gets to the option, Fuel for cars or Food for bellies?
If you really want to save fuel, walk or ride your bike for short trips. In countries like Brazil they are making ethanol out of sugar cane, and they did not see the rise in food costs like we did in the United States.
It would make more sense to use either switch grass or another less edible food source. Where is the logic in strangling every last dollar out of people?
I think it goes without saying that many corporations could do better to reduce their environmental impact on their own. For instance, “Greeninating” projects.
Why tear down a building and rebuild from the ground up to make them Environmentally friendly? Well, the tax credits, of course! But, what happens to all of that environmentally harmful construction waste? Oh, yeah. It ends up in the landfill.
On that note, why are people sending hundreds of pounds of electronics and appliances to the landfill in the name of “Green?” What is the purpose of replacing your 5-year-old stuff with shiny, new eco-friendly stuff?
Or are they eco-friendly? Not really. The batteries in the new “Green” laptops contain toxic, battery materials that are difficult to recycle.
It’s like those new “Green” compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Sure they use less electricity, but they are full of mercury and other toxic chemicals, and every last one of them is made in China. What happens ten years down the road after a few million of them end up in the local landfill? This is irony at it’s best.
Simple things like turning off lights, conserving water, and adjusting the thermostats goes a lot further than many people realize.
The hybrid gas-electric vehicles contain on average 100 pounds of toxic, battery materials that are difficult to recycle. And that car you sold or traded to get your hybrid? It’s just one more car on the road in addition to the other non-green cars.
And plug in cars aren’t that much better since The United States still gets most of its electricity from coal operated power plants. Therefore, vehicles that leech from the power grid are essentially coal-burning vehicles.
Once you figure the inefficiency of power transmission to the home, charging circuitry and electricity storage in the vehicle itself, it’s not so “Green.”
Small cars powered by low-displacement gasoline or turbo diesel engines will save you more money and they burn just as clean as a hybrid.
Those re-usable “Green” canvas bags sold by grocery stores are typically made in China. Children who earn mere pennies a day in a sweatshop probably made them. And of course, there are the resources it took to ship them halfway across the world. Instead, take your own backpacks or duffel bags along and use those. If you look hard enough, you can find a backpack made in America.
Alas, marketing is marketing but it’s all a sham. Look at the new design of bottled water. It says “New Eco-Shape. Our new bottle looks and feels different because it is purposely designed with an average of 30% less plastic to be easier on the environment!”
Yeah, I’m sure it has nothing at all to do with lowering their costs.
A few months ago, I saw Campbell’s Tomato Soup cans with green colored labels. I was excited, thinking they’d come out with green tomato soup, but then I saw it was just enviro-red tomato soup. The environmental claim? They were selling condensed soup, so they didn’t need as much aluminum as cans of non-condensed soup. I literally laughed out loud in the aisle. I gave them a tad of credit–maybe this soup is more condensed than normal, so it really was a change they made? Nope.
The “Green Movement” is really just window dressing and the current definition of “environmentalism” is identifying the point that we can destroy the natural world “just enough” to permit its slightest survival, at our maximum convenience. We don’t “save” the environment, we just decide to what degree we can kill it the most and are able to still pat ourselves on the back.
I’ve also noticed that environmentalists have committed a sin that they jump all over religious groups for; That sin is beating people over the head with your ideology. They act smug because you buy the “right” soup, or the “right” car and that makes others want to be anything other than whatever you are.
Religious Fundamentalists do this as well, by trying to “save” people’s souls by pointing out any possible area of weakness as if it made that person evil. How will people take environmentally smart steps when they’re enforced with shame and ridicule?
Until “Green” actually becomes more about conservation and simplicity and less about what smug “Eco-Friendly” people can buy, I will not be jumping onto the Green Bandwagon.
