Two people I know personally, and both in business.
One of them is an old lady, a devout capitalist who makes her money in real estate, but has decided that this year she can make a killing selling christmas ornaments made out of “recycled” steel as long as the packaging suggests “greenness”.
The other is a guy who builds brick and stone walls like around people’s houses and driveways. Like if you had some hillside that was shifting then he’d come in and build a support wall. His whole advertising campaign is based on the fact that it’s “green” to put up these walls.
Sure those aren’t bad ideas, but they both charge an awful lot for their products.
Is it wrong to exploit the whole “green” craze for profit, when you’re really not doing anything that’s particularly healthy for the environment?
Yeah, there is so much mis-information about green it is ripe for the people who want to capitalize (read rip off) on it.
The problem is that all too often, people don’t follow the logical consequences of their “green” efforts only to find that what is green may be counter-intuitive. Save a tree! Don’t use paper towels! Soooo, what are the environmental costs of polluting water with detergents to wash out those cleaning rags? It is not following the “green” alternatives to their logical conclusion that creates the confusion, and where there is confusion lie opportunities to rip and reap…
Without knowing more, I’d have to conclude that neither of your friends are doing anything particularly ‘green’. I think I also might conclude that this thread is so old you may never see this…
It’s wrong to capitalize on goods and services that do not positively benefit the environment while labeling them ‘green’. It’s a problem with advertisers not marketing their widgets ethically; but when have they ever? To them, being ‘green’ is just another fad that people will buy into.
I don’t see any issues with capitalizing on goods/services that do have a positive effect on the environment. For example, check out the price of LED light bulbs…the prices are sky-high.
Companies capitalizing? You bet. Even the cheapest I could find are a rip off IMO.
Is the product ‘green’? Yep. Eco-friendly manufacturing processes and each bulb lasts up to 7 years…so not too many replacements.
Ethical? Yep. They’re not harming the environment (to an extent) while producing an efficient bulb that lasts many years. And they charge an arm and two legs for each one.
Examples of ‘green’:
Recycling (especially glass, plastic, and aluminum); buying products that are recycled or contain recycled material; consuming organic food (but watch out for food labeled ‘organic’ similar to bogus ‘green’ products); buying green energy or removing yourself from the grid; conserving energy at home/work; driving a fuel efficient vehicle or using public trans. or biking/walking; not fertilizing the hell out of your lawn; generally anything that has a neutral or good impact on the environment. This is just a short list of some of the major things that anyone can do, and isn’t meant to be a complete list. I know someone is going to eventually comment on how there are 40 things I didn’t mention…
If you want to determine if ‘green’ product X is a scam, just think of ways it benefits the environment. If it doesn’t, then you’re paying extra money so the company can afford to print “green” on more packages.