Saving the Planet one Product at a Time!
This will probably ensure I never get advertising on my site EVER, but the ads on television are bugging me enough that I have to have a rant.
The television and print media marketing machines are really on a kick to convince us that they are on the healthy, eco-green bandwagon as much as the rest of us are.
Now I am not the ‘greenest’ person out there. But I try. I recycle. I use cloth bags for shopping. I try to teach my kids to be aware of their environment and how to take care as much as we can in our own little way.
And I do worry about the products and chemicals that my kids are exposed to, both in their food and their environment…but I freely admit to not really doing enough about that…..crunchy messes..but not crunchy in lifestyle I suppose.
One of the things that annoy me about these ads is how again…the focus is on the end user. Us happy homemakers are assumed to have a clearer conscience when we use more environmentally friendly products in our home…..safer for us…BOOM we are doing our bit. What gets forgotten about is that the bigger culprits in environmental pollution, energy waste, etc are the MAKERS of these products.
Who strangely keep making the LESS friendly products at the same time.
Look at the Scott Brands for example….and their paper towels. Scott Towels and Scott Naturals. The ‘Natural’ Brand uses 60% recycled materials.
I assume their ‘regular’ brand does not. Soooo why keep making it? Would it not be better for the environment to switch ALL your products to recycled? How about that bleaching process?
Why would you keep making wasteful products?
The consumer? Consumers SHOULD be educated about their products…even taught to care….that is what the green movement does, does it not?
So why would it make me feel better buying the Natural brands of Scott Towels when the old bleached products are still being churned out the old way?
Why is small scale ‘caring’ still the only way to ‘save the planet?
Where is the pressure on these types of manufacturers to change ALL their production and products to a better cleaner and sustainable system?
Clorox is another example (random). I am famous for bleaching the crap out of things. To the horror of the families wardrobes.
I freely admit to loving the smell of bleach in my house…it fools me into thinking it is clean!
Clorox now has their Green Works line of cleaning and washing products. They have pledged that these products are safe and sustainable. GREAT!!!! But why not just make ALL your product line like this now!!!???
Saving the planet with one brand is not going to work when you are destroying it with another brand!
Carbon trading and carbon offsetting is not the way to go. Making ALL products that we use in a better, healthier and sustainable way is the ONLY way we are going to clean up ourselves and the planet.
Pressure needs to be placed on these manufacturers and I suppose it is up to us..the consumers…to do so.
Don’t buy the old products.
Complain about the old products.
Demand fair pricing for the green versions….and find out HOW these products are made before feeling good about using them in your own home.
Classic greenwashing.
You know what works really well for cleaning? Plain old vinegar and baking soda, and a cloth rag. We’ve been gradually phasing out chemical cleaners, just not replacing them as they run out. Much less money spent on cleaning products, I’m not afraid of The Imp getting into the cupboards and drinking poisonous stuff, and no chemical smell in our house.
But Clorox and Scott (among others) don’t get rich if I buy vinegar and baking soda, and reuse old towels as cleaning rags.
The way to be greener is to consume less overall. Going green through shopping just seems ass-backwards to me.
End rant.
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The greenwashing really bothers me. And the Clorox GreenWorks is actually the first example that springs to my mind. I have a hard time thinking of Clorox as really environmentally-minded.
I think that, as consumers, we can have power. If we all opted for the enviro-choice, or NO choice, then the manufacturers would meet our demands. They are just interested in making a buck, after all. But that doesn’t mean that we know what’s going on behind closed doors, or that they are as green as they claim.
That’s why we need better regulations. I feel like we need to keep a much closer eye on companies and their claims. It’s too hard for most of us, as consumers, to keep this sort of thing straight.
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Seriously, step one: STOP BUYING THINGS!
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