Dumb green ideas that leave ya wondering, why?
January 27, 2010 by Tom GuayPosted in: Special Report, energy efficiency, solar power
Even the greenest wannabes can only roll their eyes when overly enthusiastic marketing departments get behind these gems.
Some highlights gleaned from the musings of Web bloggers since the green thing really exploded in the last couple of years.
Bad idea #1: Reusable grocery bags. Sure the idea sounds like a great way to get away from the plastic bag. But as one blogger pointed out: Where else can you get a free source of trash-can liners and plastic bags to carry home a wet bathing suit or to pick up after your dog? She also discovered that reusable bags totally outperform paper and plastic. They’re so strong and durable that she ended up buying way more groceries than she planned and needed help getting them out to her car.
Bad idea #2: The computer-powered flower pot. Relying on the basics, like sun, soil and water is too much bother. What busy exec has time to remember to water the thing? Why bother when your computer can do all the work and just tell you about it? That’s the thinking behind the plastic flower pot that hooks into your computer’s USB port to supply light and monitor growth. Computer gets to run 24/7 on your dime, to do what the sun did in only half a day for free.
Bad idea #3: Green anti-virus spyware. Oh, think you can save the planet by somehow cutting power usage of your computer while you’re working away? Don’t bet on it. There’s a new computer bug linked to the “Eco Anti Virus” software that claims to hunt down evil software while improving the efficiency of your computer. Don’t touch this one. It is a virus and will deluge you with fake security alerts and force you to go to the Eco Anti Virus Web site to buy its product.
Bad idea #4: Solar powered necktie and jacket. Haven’t seen one yet in church, at the diner or while waiting in a Wal-Mart checkout line? What’s the power for? To hold the tie flat in a breeze? Maybe it really does repower your cell phone, but it didn’t win any kudos from the green movement. Maybe if they had made a solar-powered fork and spoon to go with the electric knife it might have caught on.
Bad idea #5: The Energy Curtain. What a great idea, this solar powered window shade collects enough juice during the day to provide free light at night. Unfortunately, the shade must be drawn all day to soak in the sunlight, so anyone in the house has to turn on a light to get this electric glow at night. Hmmmm.
Seen any other oddball green ideas? Share them in the comments section for everyone to enjoy.
Tags: eco virus, Energy Curtain, reusable grocery bags, solar powered necktie
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January 28th, 2010 at 2:56 am
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January 28th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
What happens when the reusable shopping bag is no longer reusable (ie – gets a big hole in it)? They won’t biodegrade and will sit in landfills.
January 28th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
I do have one comment on the reusable bag movement. Yes the plastic bag comes in handy, however I don’t know how many I really need. I ended up with cabinets so so full of those plastic bags that I was collecting them much faster than using them. I think there is a balance. When I need a couple plastic bags I forget my reusable ones. I think that this little change does make a green difference in the long run for people like myself.
January 28th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Sorry, but the plastic bag argument is smiply idiotic. What kind of sheep-human hybrid bases the quantity of their purchases on the size of their bag??? If you want more wars against OPEC tyrants, keep using plastic bags.
January 28th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Your number one idea makes me wonder why you wrote this – reusable grocery bags are a bad green idea? Take a walk outside some time – unfortunately, I cannot remember the last time I went for a walk and did not find them in the woods, along roads, in streams, etc.
The bags effect on wildlife can be catastrophic; according to a World Wildlife Fund report in 2005, they affect nearly 200 different species of sea life (including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles) which die after ingesting plastic bags which are mistaken for food.
You also need to take into account that each year, Americans throw away some 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags. (Only 0.6 percent of plastic bags are recycled.) So 99.4% of the resources used to produce the bags just go out in the trash – not very green, is it!
January 28th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
While I agree that some of these examples are stupid/funny, I whole-heartedly disagree with ‘Bad idea #1′. I think that reusable grocery bags are a great idea! Especially in areas where the use of plastic bags has been banned. If having free waste basket liners is so important to you, get plastic every once in a while (though I think that’s a pretty weak excuse), but when you get them every time, the inevitably go to waste and wind up polluting our landfills and oceans like so many tons of plastic bags to every year. Wrap up your bathing suit in a towel and toss it in a reusable bag, and get smaller, less wasteful (and even available in biodegradable) doodoo bags. And for crying out loud, regulate your own grocery shopping. I think that was the most ridiculous excuse of all! None of these excuses seems like a legitimate reason not to use reusable bags to me. I realize that this article was meant as a light-hearted laugh, but this was just irresponsible stupidity.
January 28th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
On emails, a “Go Green” graphic and a tagline asking if the email really needs to be printed: this often adds enough size to an email that it uses a second sheet of paper when printing; this is compounded if there is a string of emails, with each having the “Go Green” footer multiplied over and over.
By the way, I think the solar collector window shade is actually a good idea if the residents are away at work during the day, and especially if it’s in a hot climate where drawing the shades reduces air conditioning consumption.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:00 am
I totally agree with the previous poster, the curtain makes a lot of sense to me. I’m at work during the day, and even when I’m not, I have to have curtains on the southern exposure of the front room or it’s too bright to see. It’s excellent.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:13 am
Boy, ya can’t win for losin’, can ya? As for me…the reusable bags don’t make sense because I have a hard enough time remembering the grocery list, let alone my reusable bags! And I recycle the plastic bags anyway, which I’m sure are a lot easier on the environment when it comes to the manufacturing side of it. But then I’m not exactly the greenest person either…
January 29th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Shoppers in Europe have used re-usable shopping bags for years. It’s the smart thing to do. I agree with Chuck…I can’t count the times we have been in You-Name-It, USA and I have see bags along the road. Not just along the road, caught in trees, snagged on a bush, and the list goes on and on. It seems to be the only suggestion of the above that seems reasonable. The others are just “plain stupid”.
January 29th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I have to disagree with the article on the reusable grocery bags and the solar curtain.
While one can’t be sure without doing a life cycle assessment, but I would bet reusable bags have a smaller environmental impact over their useful life than single use bags. Say for example, you get 50 uses out of a reusable bag. I don’t believe the amount of energy and raw materials that went into making the the reusable bag is more than the materials and energy that went into making 50 single use bags EVEN IF the single use bags are recycled. I would also argue that reusable bags made of synthetics (as many are) could be recycled, though probably not through the average curbside recycling program.
As for the curtain, Most of my rooms have more than one window, so again I wouldn’t need to turn on the lights during the day even with a shade closed.
February 1st, 2010 at 7:47 am
Like some others, I do not have my life together enough to have the reusable bags with me when I get to the grocery store. I simply use the plastic ones they provide. However, I have the small frame-type trash cans at home that are made for these bags, so I’m using them there. We use them to wrap up our grandson’s diapers before disposing of them (for odor control & sanitation,) and the excess that I cannot use are donated to a local charity-run thrift store so they won’t have to buy bags. You can still be green without purchasing the reusable bags.