Great Philosophical Point
People change when they have to — not when we tell them to.
One of the best lines from Thomas Friedman's latest article for the New York Times, "The Power of Green" - a really well written, and well thought out essay. I recommend it to all.
If the article above sparks any interest in what YOU can do - read my post from February 19, 2005: http://www.kalifowitz.com/2005/02/green-power.html
Leave comments if you have any other ideas.
Labels: action, Activism, environmentalism, green, Philosophy
This entry was posted
on Apr 15, 2007 at 4/15/2007 01:26:00 PM.
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More on plastic bags...
My mom called me up today posing an interesting question about my rant on the distribution and use of plastic bags. She said that she never buys garbage bags because she uses the ones she gets from stores like Whole Foods. She asked, "if plastic shopping bags are reused as garbage bags, does that make it environmentally OK to distribute them?
It took me a little while to formulate an opinion, and here it is:
- Few plastic bags distributed by stores are as large as the average garbage can. As a result, for every one normal sized garbage bag, you likely use two store bags. Total plastic usage goes up.
- Few garbage bags use plastic that's as thick as that used at stores. Total plastic usage goes up.
- Few garbage bags have any printing on them (a process which is rather destructive to the environment). While store distributed bags are full of ink.
- I have no numbers to back this up, but I see many plastic bags in public trash cans, which weren't reused as garbage bags. Even if the number is 10%, it's not good.
In summary, the theory that it's OK to distribute plastic bags at stores because they might be used as garbage bags sounds good on the surface. After digging down though, while reusing plastic bags lessens the environmental impact, it's still worse for the environment than the alternative: using cloth bags when shopping to carry goods home, and buying garbage bags that are thin, with no printing, and large enough to fit your garbage can.
If you have suggestions, or think I'm wrong, please leave a comment.
Labels: bags, environmentalism, green, plastic
This entry was posted
on Apr 10, 2007 at 4/10/2007 02:17:00 AM.
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Whole Foods Bowery - Are they really green?
Whole Foods Bowery is the first one I've seen in NYC that got it right - they have a sign at each cash register reading, "Spend an extra $1 and get a reusable Whole Foods Market shopping bag While Supplies Last."
I was excited until I read the big letters "Go Green For Earth Month" - coupled with the line, "while supplies last." It then hit me that I saw this on March 31st, and that in the next day or so, all of the Whole Foods locations will have this sign, along with the cloth bags. While that's a good thing - I'm assuming that as with other corp. image campaigns, this isn't intended to be a long-term investment on the part of Whole Foods to encourage customers to use fewer plastic bags... It appears as though it's another stunt to ride the wave of media attention drawn to
earth day / month.
It's more than likely that by May, Whole Foods won't be green anymore, having reverted back to happily distributing plastic bags, and give out more of those
silly discs I wrote about below...
I hope I'm wrong...
Labels: environmentalism, green
This entry was posted
on Apr 1, 2007 at 4/01/2007 01:17:00 PM.
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Addendum to last Whole Foods post
The sign reads: "for every shopping bag you bring in and re-use when you shop!"
Wouldn't it be more effective to just offer cloth bags?
Make it an "in-thing" a marketing stunt where people without cloth bags will feel "out" of the cool club. People without cloth bags will be openly exposed as anti-environment.
These kinds of trends catch on really fast in NYC, I'm sure it would work out well for Whole Foods - and more importantly, for the environment.
Labels: commerce, green, marketing
This entry was posted
on Mar 30, 2007 at 3/30/2007 12:13:00 AM.
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Whole Foods is Nuts!
This product, Hand-Ease - which Whole Foods gives away for free - is a remarkable waste of natural resources, as well as money.
I couldn't figure out why there were cardboard disks at every register, so I had to ask the cashier. She proceeded to chuckle (acknowledging the silliness of the product) as she told me that they're intended to make it more comfortable to carry multiple heavy plastic bags - which often crease your hand... I asked her if they charge people for them (which would be consistent with them taking $0.05 off for each plastic bag you don't take) - she said no. I asked if many people use them & she laughed when saying "people love them!"
For a company that brands itself as an environmentally friendly, this is a disgusting & hypocritical move. They should take note of what was done today in San Francisco (the first city in the US, but far behind many other countries...) - where they passed a ban on plastic bags. Supermarkets will be required to offer paper bags or reusable cloth bags. By offering these discs, Whole Foods is going completely against the ban in San Francisco by making the use of plastic bags more convenient, rather than curbing it all together.
Note: After visiting Melbourne, Australia and Kingston, Ontario, I noticed a trend: everyone brought a cloth bag with them to the supermarket. Why? Because in Melbourne, they don't offer plastic bags, and in Kingston, if plastic bags are offered, you must pay $0.05 each. Since then, I started carrying a shoulder bag with me everywhere, and refuse the plastic bags no matter which store I'm at. You should try it too.
Labels: environmentalism, green, ridiculous
This entry was posted
on Mar 28, 2007 at 3/28/2007 10:31:00 PM.
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Progress
Free: 1,000 Can Get Energy-Efficient Christmas Lights
Utilities Kingston Bill-Payers Asked To Trade Old Lights For LEDs
Read more...
This is what I'm talking about when I say that a big step we need to take in the US is to inject into the public consciousness a sense of responsibility. This program in tiny Kingston, ON shows just how committed the people there are to being responsible to their neighbors both near by, and in distant lands.
Labels: environmentalism, green
This entry was posted
on Nov 20, 2006 at 11/20/2006 07:13:00 PM.
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Stumble
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