It’s Not Easy Being Green
Are we, as consumers, asking the right questions about why something we buy is ‘green’? According to this article, It’s Not Easy Being Green, we may be a little blinded to what we need to know:
“When you only look at the raw materials to ask if something is really green, you are like the blind person holding the tail of the elephant,” said Chris
Van Dyke, chief executive of Nau, a clothing line founded on the principle of using sustainable practices throughout its production cycle. “There’s a whole lot of other factors you need to assess.”
That article references this one, A World Consumed by Guilt, at the New York Times. This one reminds us that Green consumers are largely uninformed about two things:
1. how or why the clothes we buy are Green.
2. in what ways are these clothes produced at odds with our beliefs
“…the trend has advanced so quickly that it becomes difficult to evaluate the claims of products that say they are biodegradable, carbon neutral or made from sustainable materials. In recognition of rapidly expanding consumer interest, the Federal Trade Commission said on Monday that it will quickly re-evaluate its guides for green designations in marketing, last updated in 1998, to determine whether they need to be expanded.”
The point is made: people buy ‘eco-friendly’ bamboo T-shirts and feel good. But isn’t important to know that chemical agents are used to soften the raw bamboo to make the shirts. The use of these chemical agents are the source of considerable pollution.
Or organic cotton. Since regulation for labelling cotton organic comes after harvesting, the $75 organic cotton T-shirt you buy may have been treated with chemicals during processing. But still labelled organic. Does that make any sense?
Are we asking the right questions? The funniest, and most telling line, comes towards the end:
Some argue that the greenest clothes — the ones least likely to adversely affect the earth and its climate — are the ones you already own. No new resources will be depleted to make them, and if they need infrequent washing and can be drip-dried, all the better.
