Going green is like, so totally trendy right now. It may even be safe to say that green is the new black! Many companies have taken notice of this green trend and have jumped on the bandwagon in hopes of marketing the next hit eco-friendly product. Bottled water manufacturers like Dasani and Nestle have proven to be quite the humanitarians by bottling their product in containers that use 30% recycled plant material or are made with 30% less plastic, respectively. Finally, we can quench our thirst for environmentally friendly products with the knowledge that we are at least 30% closer to promoting a sustainable lifestyle! Could this be a sign that the corporate world finally has the best interests of humanity on its agenda? Hopefully my blatant sarcasm suggests the opposite, but in case it has not, I will spell out the irony behind the new wave of products masquerading as “green” alternatives. By suggesting that being environmentally friendly requires one to purchase a product, major manufacturers are undermining everything the green movement stands for. As responsible citizens we should look at any product that claims to be green with a critical eye to avoid falling for a trap set by manufacturers and instead favor actual green solutions.
“Greenish” products, as I shall call them, can seem strangely appealing despite the backwards logic they employ. They usually have some little sticker, disclaimer, or maybe even a cute little anecdote that tugs at one’s heartstrings and makes the purchaser feel like a crusader for the environmental cause. I encountered such a product just the other week while trying to satisfy my junk food craving. As I opened my noisier-than-usual bag of original flavored Sunchips I thought “Holy crap! Why is this bag so noisy?” As if reading my mind, the back of the Sunchips bag which stated “This bag is louder because it is compostable”. The new bag is comprised of plant-based materials, making it 100% compostable, which apparently necessitates the cacophony that ensues by simply touching the bag. Thanks Frito- Lay! After years of sleepless nights spent tossing and turning while pondering the fate of my disposed-of chip bags, I can once again rest easy knowing my snacking habits will not adversely affect Mother Nature! Or at least this is what advertisers want their consumers to think. They will do whatever they can to tap into the minds of environmentally conscious customers to lure them to their products under the guise that they are good for the environment. Although the bag may boast the ability to break down in just fourteen weeks in a compost heap, I did what anyone living in an apartment without a compost pile (or a yard for that matter) would do. I threw the bag in the garbage. This is one of the huge fallacies of greenish alternatives. They give purchasers the false sense that they are somehow saving the world and do little to inspire actual change. Frito-lay does not care what you do with their noisy, albeit compostable bag. The main concern is that you as the consumer continue to invest in greenish products so they can rake in the profits while you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
However compelling these advertisements may seem, we should be wary to readily accept any product that claims to be a green solution because chances are such products protect some major corporation’s interests -not yours, and certainly not our planet’s. Let us return to the idea of “eco-friendly” bottled water to illustrate this point. What precisely is eco-friendly about bottled water? Sure, the bottle may be produced with less plastic than ever before and it is definitely recyclable. Regardless of its recyclability, the possibility remains that the bottle could end up in a landfill somewhere. Furthermore, the energy used to make the bottle is a complete waste even if it is 30% more efficient than previous prototypes. Despite the supposed greenness of the new product, the fact remains that the greenest option when it comes to drinking water is to simply refill an old bottle with tap water. As with most green options, the most sensible solution does not require you to make many purchases; it simply requires a little common sense. If a product has to make an elaborate claim to try and illustrate its eco-friendliness, chances are it is no friend of the environment.
It should come as no surprise that corporations like Coca-Cola (the makers of Dasani) are scrambling to market their products in a new, environmentally friendly light. If enough people pledge to get stricter about reducing, reusing, and recycling, the anti-consumption message of the green movement has the potential to seriously reduce profits for companies that rely on our current culture of consumerism. It is in their interest to appear to join the environmental cause in order to avoid falling into obsolescence. However, their attempts are halfhearted and actually slow the green movement by shifting the focus to supposedly “better” products rather than reducing overall consumption. Those who are truly environmentally conscious should practice caution when searching for ways to lessen their impact on the environment.
Holly Hartung ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism. In addition to encouraging you to consider actual green alternatives, she sincerely wants to warn you of the potential deafness that may result from snacking with the new Sunchips bag.
