American Pie: "Green'' Fever
“Environmental conservation has opened up a whole new dimension of spin and obfuscation to product marketers, who had been getting a little desperate for new ideas,’’ says John Merchant.
John believes that there is a desperate need to change our self-indulgent ways, but people need facts and a true understanding before buying into going “green’’.
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I have commented in previous columns that Americans love a craze. Once aboard, there’s no stopping them until that indeterminate moment when the craze burns itself out. Manufacturers and marketers know this, as does the Government. What they don’t know is how to get a craze started. These phenomena don’t usually take off overnight, even though some seem to. It’s comparable to the movie actor who’s been pounding the boards for years, then appears in a blockbuster and is labeled an overnight success.
Environmental conservation is a typical example. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have to know that the latest thing is “GREEN,” that blanket mnemonic that covers anything from exchanging traditional light bulbs for the fluorescent kind, to separating your trash into glass, metals and plastics. Ecological awareness has, like the movie actor, been treading the boards for a long time, but now seems poised to be a star, if it ever gets the right script. And there’s the rub.
There’s so much mis-information flying around that getting to the truth is a major undertaking for the layperson, and even for some so-called experts. The difficulty lies in the fact that ecological problems and their solutions are steeped in science and technology. It doesn’t help that some environmental issues require a global view to understand them; a perspective that’s difficult to come by for the average citizen.
In their rush to capitalize on this emerging bonanza, manufacturers and marketers are compounding the public’s confusion by propagating inaccurate or even untrue product claims. As an example, solar cells are touted as being ecologically friendly because they produce electrical power from sunlight. What is not revealed is that it takes more energy to manufacture a solar cell than the cell will ever produce. That’s not to say that solar cells don’t have their uses. If you’re in the middle of an ocean or a desert, they’re a great way to power your GPS or satellite phone.
The other day I watched a TV program that featured an interior designer describing what he had done to make his older Californian home more “green.” One major change he had undertaken was to replace all the old windows with new, double-glazed versions to the tune of $75,000. Do you suppose he’d calculated how many years it would take for the fuel savings to pay back his investment, or given a thought to the energy that had been consumed to manufacture the glass; or the trees that had been felled to make the frames?
He also had redone some decking and fences with plastic to “conserve the trees” that would have been consumed if he had used traditional wood products. Didn’t he know that plastics are made from oil, a non-renewable resource?
The environmental value of recycling is also shrouded in mystery for most people, and it’s hard to get at the truth. The little I know is that only a proportion of recycled glass can be added to the raw materials used to make new glass, and even then it must be the same color as the melt. Heavy metals, used in silk-screened glass container labels, accumulate as highly toxic residues in the furnaces. Experiments are being made into the use of recycled glass for other applications such as road surfacing, but the material is still far from being routinely applied.
Recycled plastics can only be remanufactured for a limited number of products, as is true for paper. This is not to say that I am opposed to recycling, the alternative of dumping is not acceptable, or even viable. The real answer is to reduce or eliminate the use of these materials in the first place. Back in the days when milk was delivered to the door, the glass containers were re-used. Let’s get back to that. Strive for the paperless office. Stop throwing things away just because they are last year’s model. Take your own shopping bags to the supermarket, just like momma used to do.
Environmental conservation has opened up a whole new dimension of spin and obfuscation to product marketers, who had been getting a little desperate for new ideas. The quasi-science that is blowing through the media like tumble weed is manna from heaven. The claims for corn based ethanol; hybrid cars; hydrogen-fueled vehicles; non-polluting, coal fired power stations etc., are rooted in science so complex it would take a Ph.D. to understand the ramifications.
Some products that are being marketed as “green” are no different from the pre-“green” versions. An old style screwdriver is suddenly environmentally friendly because it doesn’t use batteries like its powered alternative? Just today I received two news releases that typify what I’m talking about. The first stated that Monkey Joe Speak (Yes that is a real company) has developed a line of unique “green” products that businesses can use to promote themselves, using bamboo and recycled tires and paper!
The other, from my friends at the American Chemical Society, quotes from a May 12, cover- article in Chemical & Engineering News by Marc Reisch. Mr. Reisch states that: “From soaps to body lotions to shampoos, consumers are increasingly drawn to personal care products that are labeled "green" or environmentally-friendly; a fast-growing market that chalks-up an estimated $4 billion in sales per year worldwide.”
The article goes on to say that: “Despite the hype over these products, there's growing confusion by consumers and manufacturers alike over what it really means to be labeled as "green.” And, “…there's no universal consensus over what is “green,” organic, or sustainable. To the detriment of consumers, manufacturers sometimes produce misleading labels in an effort to cash-in on the hype,” the article notes.
“Some manufacturers have even begun to certify their products as green under a variety of different standards and criteria, or using different certifying bodies. But change may be around the corner. Some groups in the U.S. and abroad are now working on establishing clearer standards for personal care products. Unless ingredient makers and formulators sort out their differences, the subject of what is natural, organic, and sustainable may have to be sorted out in a court of law," Reisch says.
Well, “green” is one craze that I hope has a long life, and hopefully without the help of the lawyers. We desperately need to change the self-indulgent way we live, but people won’t buy into it unless they understand the ramification and trust the reasoning.
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