Sunday, April 26, 2009
Commercial Environmentalism
Does the fact that much of the Environmentalist movement has become commercial lower its value? You see all over the place these days 'green' versions of old products like windex. If you were cynical you could say that they are selling inferior products for a higher price, but is their Environmentalism sincere? Perhaps the market shifted as it did with the CFC's. Either way things like Cpt. Planet, and all of the merchandise that went with that, and the recent 'green' products seem to be counter productive. Perhaps they are not counter productive and maybe they are even effective, I rather doubt it though. Even Kohak criticized the American Environmentalist movements for their commercial affluence. Why cant affluence and Envionmentalism live side by side? The American public seem to be torn between commercialism and Envoronmentalism and the market is showing that.
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Personally, I think the recent "green" marketing is really annoying. There are no set standards for labeling something as "green" or "eco-friendly," so companies can use it in whatever way they think they can get away with. And the only reason they care to label things as such is because it's what the public wants -at the moment. They've been making carpets out of recycled plastic bottles for years, but you never see them touting this because it isn't popular with the consumer. Perhaps what's in the Windex bottle hasn't changed at all, but the outside label now sports the "green" claim. Ugh! It gets on my nerves. What bothers me most is that the consumer remains uneducated and will buy anything that claims to be environmentally sound without asking any questions.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to look beyond the obvious capitalist opportunists to see the bigger picture. Companies are always going to try to make a profit anyway they can, but I think the most crucial part of the whole "green movement" is that its message has become ubiquitous. Even though some people may be making money off of this movement, the fact remains that this important message has become pervasive in American society: in commercials, endorsed by celebrites, on store shelves, written across billboards, etc. Obviously companies that claim to be green should be held to some kind of standard, but the message is coming across one way or another, and Americans are beginning to amend life-styles to be more eco-friendly.
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