Spin Cycle
Real green goods or greenwashed sales pitch?
By Siel
These days we’re constantly bombarded with media messages touting the latest and greatest eco-saviors. Compact fluorescent light bulbs save the polar bears! Bamboo clothes redefine eco-agriculture and couture fashion! Mineral makeup pretties-up your face and the planet too!
And to be honest, we’re all probably more than a little susceptible to latching onto any new idea that could protect the planet from impending eco-doom. That is, at least until the honeymoon ends and the media backlash begins, undermining our most well-meaning intentions to green up our lives with these products. CFL bulbs contain neurotoxins! Bamboo clothes are carcinogenic! Mineral makeup will give you emphysema!
How do you separate the hope from the hype? Despair not, intrepid econista. Allow us to assist you in sidestepping the spin, wading through the warring headlines, and maybe even tipping a few eco sacred cows. While we can’t promise that what you’ll learn will single-handedly stop global warming, create world peace or even ease rush-hour traffic, at least you’ll know what real green hopes these products provide — and what kinks they still have to work out.
CFLs: Bright Idea or Dim Fancy?
Energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs might be the most beloved eco-product on the market. After all, CFLs use less energy, which is a boon for both your electric bill and the environment. Sounded like a really great thing until a bunch of news outlets started reporting that CFLs contain the environmental bad boy mercury, a potent neurotoxin. Should we now fork over our hard earned greens to bring this poisonous element into our house?
The short answer is yes. CFL bulbs do contain a little mercury, but provided that you dispose of these bulbs properly at a hazardous waste facility near you, they shouldn’t pose environmental concerns. In fact, the mercury in a CFL bulb is far less than the mercury emissions released from a coal-burning power plant lighting up a regular, less energy-efficient light bulb.
And even if you accidentally break a CFL bulb in your home, don’t panic. Just follow the simple, clear-headed cleanup instructions provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (epa.gov/hg/spills/index.htm), and get yourself a new CFL bulb.
Locavoring: Delectable or Delusional?
Local food has gotten a lot of eco-love of late, with the help of Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingsolver, and the 100 Mile Diet crowd. Eating local enables you to support local economies, ensure food security and enjoy yummy food. Really, where’s the downside?
Leave it to The Economist to ruin a good dinner. A late 2006 article deflated farmers’ market enthusiasts, asserting that locally produced food requires more energy and creates more greenhouse gas emissions than products sourced from far-flung lands. In the wake of that article, the New York Times and a whole slew of smaller publications reported on similar “revelations” about the un-eco-ness of local food.
The problem with these reports? Often the figures are distorted to make for a controversial story. The articles usually compare the most eco-friendly product from a faraway place — say, sustainably raised, pasture-fed lamb from New Zealand — to the most un-eco local product — like feed-fed lamb from a nearby factory farm.
Perhaps there is the rare misguided Missourian who considers the St. Louis-headquartered, genetically modified food advocate Monsanto a good source for local eats. However, most locavores seek out food that’s not just local, but also organic and sustainable. So don’t bother comparing organic lettuce from China to conventional U.S. lettuce, and just opt for organic lettuce from your nearest farmers’ market instead.
Hybrids: Hope or Hype?
A hybrid car won the 2007 LA Auto Show’s “Green Car of the Year” award — and elicited groans from environmentalists around the world. Why? The winner was the 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, a huge SUV that gets a dismal 20 miles per gallon.
While the much-beloved Prius really is quite green, many hybrids on the market are not — even if they’re marketed as eco-friendly. Many of these so-called green hybrids, especially those huge SUVs, have worse MPGs than conventional cars. Instead of improving fuel efficiency, these cars use hybrid technology for added power — unnecessary power, considering most urbanites will be stuck in traffic staring at the bumper in front of them, not creating new mountaintop paths as advertised in car commercials (an act that is decidedly un-eco, in case you’re wondering).
Somewhat fortuitously, high gas prices are making consumers MPG-conscious. So if you’re in the market for a vehicle, don’t just fall for the word hybrid. Instead, use tools like mpggenie.com to see exactly how fuel-efficient a car is, and even to calculate what the cost of your commute will be as gas prices rise.
Of course, an even better option is to get out of the car altogether. Walk, bike, or take public transportation as much as possible — and encourage more compact, pedestrian-friendly urban planning in your town.
Biofuels: Boon or Bogus?
In the face of oil-related wars and environmental disasters, biofuels are often touted as a socio-enviro-friendly fuel. Unfortunately, the most popular biofuel in the U.S. is ethanol, which is chock-full of its own socio-enviro problems. American ethanol is heavily subsidized — and mostly made of another heavily subsidized commodity: corn. Much of this corn is grown unsustainably on industrial farms, using chemical pesticides and fertilizers made of polluting, non-renewable resources.
In addition, because corn ethanol requires so much energy to produce, the end product is barely more eco than petroleum itself. The entire U.S. corn crop would only produce enough ethanol to replace 12 percent of our current gasoline use, according to Rolling Stone. And while some biofuel enthusiasts are pinning their hopes on cellulosic ethanol that can be made from non-food plant matter (see our “Energy Intelligence” story in this issue), this fuel isn’t commercially available yet.
Other biofuels — such as biodiesel made from palm or soybean oil — also pose their own conundrums. Enviro-news site Grist points out that in Brazil and Southeast Asia, rainforests and peatlands are being turned into palm-oil and soy plantations, destroying ecosystems and releasing tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. U.S. soybeans, for their part, are often genetically modified and pose many of the same problems as industrial corn.
This leaves us with recycled biodiesel and veggie oil, made with used grease collected from restaurants or homes. Biodiesel yields the same per-gallon mileage as diesel while creating less pollution, and recycled veggie oil doesn’t cramp our food supply. A growing number of eco-activists are stepping up to make recycled biofuels, so look for a greasoline group near you to get you running. Or de-car altogether and declare energy independence.
Bioplastic: Bio-Magic or Boondoggle?
When San Francisco banned plastic bags last year, bioplastic bags were touted as a much greener alternative. After all, plastics are forever, while bioplastics — made of organic materials like corn — biodegrade relatively quickly.
Not everyone’s in love with bioplastics, however. In Santa Monica, Calif., plans are underway to ban both plastic and bioplastic bags. Why? Basically, these biobags are too much like their plastic counterparts: one-use items that create litter and pollute the ocean. Sure, bioplastics biodegrade, but before they do these bags can still harm marine life.
Of course, bioplastic bags should be properly disposed of and composted, not flung out to float in the Pacific Ocean. But if the dismal one to five percent recycling rate for plastic bags is any indicator, chances are slim that the average consumer will recycle their biobags. After all, most cities don’t even have a bioplastic composting facility — much less a network of conveniently located bioplastic recycling bins. And because biobags look so much like regular plastic bags, would-be recyclers could easily dump biobags into the plastic recycling bin, throwing a monkey wrench into the system.
While bioplastics are undoubtedly better than regular plastics, a simple switch from one to the other ignores the elephant in the room: Our addiction to disposable goods. Most bioplastic products — from bags to forks to cups to plates — are intended for just one use. Considering the fact that most households already have reusable alternatives to all these single-use products, it makes a lot more sense to bag a bad habit rather than to switch to a slightly less bad habit. Don’t just ditch the plastic. Ditch the one-use lifestyle, and embrace your reusable to-go mug and organic cotton tote instead.
Bamboo Clothes: Eco-Blessing or Bamboozle?
Bamboo clothes have gone fashion-forward. Gone are those linen-like muumuus; now we have soft bamboo T-shirts, plush bamboo robes and silky bamboo socks. Many environmentalists praise bamboo because it’s a fast-growing plant that shoots up and thrives without requiring any chemicals or pesticides, making it a sustainable, regenerating resource. And to the joy of eco-fashionistas who can’t afford Loomstate’s $55 organic cotton T-shirts, many bamboo items are very affordably priced.
So what’s the eco-conundrum? The problem is in the processing. Most bamboo clothes are made using a process that requires strong chemical solvents, such as sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide. Both of those chemicals are linked to health problems for the workers making the stuff, as well as the wearer who’s unknowingly absorbing the lingering toxins. Plus, the reason bamboo clothes are often so cheap is that most are made in China — which brings up all manner of fair labor and workers’ rights concerns.
Still, bamboo clothes are an eco step up from most conventional clothes, which too are often chemically processed and made with pesticide-intensive crops or synthetic non-renewable materials to boot. And unlike pesticide residue, which can remain in your conventional cotton clothes for years, the chemicals used in bamboo processing aren’t permanently embedded in the clothes. In fact, many bamboo products carry the Oeko Tex Standard 100 certification, which shows that the end product is chemical-free — and safe for you to wear.
To make sure your favorite bamboo T-shirt’s as green as possible, do your best to check up on the environmental and labor practices of the company you’re buying from. The very best companies are members of the Fair Trade Federation or have Co-op America’s Business Seal of Approval.
Mineral Makeup: Pretty Toxic?
Environmentalists want beauty without cruelty to people, animals or the planet, making mineral makeup look like the natural choice. Compared to conventional makeup, which often contains all sorts of unpronounceable ingredients, mineral makeup is typically free of weird fragrances, chemical additives and dyes. Add to that the fact that many mineral makeup lines look and feel just as nice as the chemical-ridden stuff, and opting to go mineral seems like a no-brainer.
That said, mineral makeup isn’t worry-free. In fact, the consumer watchdog Environmental Working Group says “mineral-based products raise more questions about their safety than answers.” The problem? Nano-size ingredients. These teensy bits — which are 10 to 1,000 times smaller than their regular counterparts — can become quite damaging when absorbed by the body, even causing emphysema-like symptoms when they get into the lungs.
Some mineral makeup also contains irritating preservatives and bismuth oxychloride — a byproduct of lead refinement — used to lend a pearly sheen to the skin. The SPF 15 rating given most mineral makeup can be misleading as well: although titanium dioxide and zinc provide some natural sun protection, experts say it would take a heavy handed application to achieve an SPF of 15.
To stay on the safe side, do your best not to inhale mineral-based cosmetics, and avoid using them on damaged skin where they can be more easily absorbed. Avoid those brands with bismuth oxychloride and look for sun protection elsewhere. Beyond that, until we have better FDA regulation of personal care products, evaluate each item on a case-by-case basis. EWG’s cosmetic safety guide Skin Deep (cosmeticsdatabase.com) provides hazard scores on over 25,000 products to help you make smarter decisions.
Siel blogs about her love for the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market at greenlagirl.com.
