Save The Planet? I Don't Think So!
Filed Under Inconvenient Truths, Over Consumption | Comments Off
It looks like the eco message is going mainstream based on the number of ads that say something like:
"Buy this car/air conditioner/fridge/<name your product> and save the planet".
The latest edition of the marketeers phrase book must have a good selection of eco phrases for cutting and pasting into ads. You can also play the eco ad game - keep an eye out for ads with eco phrases.
Of course, there’s a serious issue - an inconvenient truth if you like - hiding behind this, namely:
The environment only benefits if you replace an old product with a new, more efficient product with less total consumption.
Most of the time, people buy a bigger version, or they buy something they didn’t have before.
Example: If you didn’t have an airconditioner before, and now you have one (or two), it doesn’t matter how many energy stars the air conditioner has, your overall power consumption will go up (and this ignores the resources expended in manufacturing and transporting the air conditioner ).
This is part of the illusion of consumption that nobody talks about. The illusion that if we buy energy efficiency products everything will work out. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, because most of the time we’re adding to our overall consumption.
Again, its not a question of right or wrong, or your rights or mine, the question is "Is this activity sustainable?"
Flat Screen TV Example
A great example of this is the move to flat screen - plasma or LCD - TVs. Plasma and LCD TVs look great, the catch that’s only now starting to be talked about, is that they consume more power than traditional CRT TVs. Examples:
- 28 inch CRT TV - approx 120 Watts
- 40 inch Plasma TV (the curent standard size) - approx 300 Watts
- 32 inch LCD TV (the current standard size) - approx 250 Watts
Now flat screen TVs are getting bigger all the time and the latest super large screens 60 inch and above can consume a 1000 Watts or more.
See the problem?
