The 'Green' thing

[Aunt Spiker]

I normally don't buy green-things because I've found that often these 'green' items that are 'more environmentally friendly' don't actually work and aren't worth the money - like laundry detergent and scissors, etc.

Well - add these new Aquafina "less plastic" bottles to the list. I bought a package of this stuff since I had a coupon and we were going to be having a gathering to do yardwork at a school nearby - The bottled water is most convenient per this type of gathering (so I thought)

The plastic was SO thin that a lot of us couldn't get a bottle to open without crushing it in the process and spewing water all over each and every single time.

In the meantime - I bought a few DVD's and can't help but wonder by heft how much plastic is used every year to produce every bit of the DVD and it's packaging and why they don't make a '30% less plastic' version of these where quality of the product won't be affected.

 

[Cardinal]

This is a manufacturer's extremely cynical response to a market demand, one that happens everywhere, so far as I can tell. The business spots a demand, then fills that demand with a product that is inferior in every other way, and is actually worse than the initial product the consumer was avoiding in the first place, if I'm making any sense.

As an artist I know that a relatively more obscure paint, lead white, is overwhelmingly superior to its cousin, titanium white. So businesses say "hey, let's give the silly bastards what they want at highly inflated prices, while lowering the lead content to useless levels, making it ultimately inferior to the titanium white!" But hey, it's "lead white," so we're getting what we want, right?

So "green" products and services are good, but there sure are a lot of sob's hoping to cash in on consumers' desire to be green while offering nothing green about that product at all. I remember Cracked did an article on just that, and there was even one product that claimed to be green by...get ready for it...putting their product in green packaging. There's a tenth circle of hell for these people.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

I have no doubt that the only reason why they started making this crappier bottles is because they're losing money to people who (like me) prefer to filter and reuse sport bottles.

 

[tessaesque]

I actually found an article for a debate in my Earth Sciences class last semester which stated that many "green" label products are no better for the planet than non-green label products. The article was about a year old, but at the time of writing you didn't have to meet any specific standard to label your products as "green". I just buy what I can afford, and what I know works. I'm all about "natural" solutions when I can use 'em.

 

[Deuce]

Do you and your friends resemble Frankenstein or The Hulk, by any chance?

I mean, seriously, I drink from bottles like this all the time and I've never spilled or crushed one in the process of opening.

 

[Cardinal]

I only realized just now that my post was a non-sequitur rant.

For anybody that cares, I feel much better now.

 

[Canell]

I've used some of these thin bottles and it's annoying.
I remember when the first Prius came out, I was thinking: "Why in the world do they make it so ugly? Are they trying on purpose to make fun of green vehicles?". The new one is significantly better and the Chevy Volt is a killer.

 

[spud_meister]

I laugh at 'green' products, the peopel would be more 'green' if they didn't manufacture them. :lol: