Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Throw it out, and be green?!?

Today I received an email from Crate and Barrel detailing Easy Kitchen Organization ideas, which is nothing to get excited about... I quickly scanned it and was about to delete it, when I saw a link at the bottom about eco-kitchens. I clicked the link (again, nothing to be excited about). They were touting the usual bamboo offerings and such, and it got me to thinking...

I wonder how many people run out to buy a new bamboo cutting board, or knife holder, or whatever, so they can be eco friendly; only to get home and throw away their old (and perfectly useable) stuff, just so they can say they're eco-friendly... Remember people, it's Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... Not throw away to become eco-friendly.

Now, I can't admit that I've never done that... It's easy to get caught up in the "hype" sometimes. I wonder how many people have thrown away their old perfectly usable light bulbs, after purchasing some new CFLs. Luckily there are options. We can recycle them (as Angelina pointed out in her previous post), or donate them; Denver has a great Habitat for Humanity outlet. Or even Goodwill?? Why not donate?
-S

2 comments:

Admin said...

Bamboo is making a huge push into our lives unver the veil of cheap 'eco-friendliness'. I also wonder how many people are caught up in the hype about bamboo and aren't aware of several truths about this material.

A majority of these products come from the same folks that gave us lead paint tainted toys and plastic tainted pet foods. The facts regarding the 'green-ness' of bamboo may surprise you.

Scientific literature lists a host of environmental problems associated with bamboo horticulture, including the clear-cutting of natural forests to make room for it, and an intensive use of chemicals associated with growing it.

Bamboo is not as green as you think. Read all about it here:
http://leechesson.com/bamboo_cutting_boards_and_bamboo_knitting_needles.htm

Lee

Scott said...

Lee brings up a good point; although I didn't mean to point out bamboo specifically, it just goes to show that we all need to do our research when deciding to use "new" products.