Dollah, Dollah Bills Y’all
July 7, 2008 by Noel Boehm
Filed under Beauty Products
Erm…okay where do I start? Has anyone read the book Gorgeously Green? I cannot comment on how helpful or well written the book is since I have not had the chance to check it out. I will just comment on the website. Something about it just rubs me the wrong way. Could it be the rampant Target plugs or maybe the cheeky oversimplifications? Don’t get me wrong, I luuuurve Target. It just makes it hard to take advice from someone who is so clearly in bed with a company and trying to maximize profits. Simply going out to Target and buying only organic cotton or bamboo sheets is not the eco-friendliest solution. Bamboo this, organic that, it all comes at a price.
This one particularly rubs me the wrong way since I’m a mother. She suggests we purchase organic baby food …from you guessed it Target. Really? Gerber slaps a new font and organic on a jar of green beans and, suddenly it’s an entirely new product wrapped in fallen leaves and delivered by the ORGANIC MOBILE that runs on pure goodness and sunshine. I feel like the green revolution message is getting mangled to suit a select group of people. The “Let’s consume less and make smarter choices” has been drowned out and now all I can hear is, “Buy more stuff. Take the blue pill it’s organic!”
I think the true message can be summed up in the phrase BE INFORMED. Make the best choice for you and your family based on real information. Don’t listen to what lotion I think is great, make the right choice for you. Every choice has an impact and there is no such thing as totally green or totally eco-friendly. Think about what resources or energy that might have gone into your next purchase and then consider if there could have been a better option for you. I won’t poo-poo the whole thing, there actually are some informative articles and the message boards might be a good place to talk to other people and get input. Not quite sure where I was going with this but I had to voice it. Opinionated, hypocritical rant over.
Via Amazon
Hi Noel,
You know, the COVER of this book rubs me the wrong way. Why do I have to look good to save the earth? Can’t I save it with morning breath and my hair in rollers?
I also haven’t thumbed through it (I have to now, after your comments). I’ll check out the website too.
I agree with you, I think everyone has discovered that they can charge more for a product by saying it’s “natural”.
Please it is obvious that you have not done your homework as to the cost of manufacturing of sustainable goods. Second if you want to be green don’t buy so damn much stuff and don’t waste good space on the internet.
Peter, everyone is entitled to have an opinion, you know what they say. Secondly I actually have done my homework as to the cost of manufacturing supposedly sustainable goods such as bamboo. I’m not quite sure where you are going with that one.
Third, reading and comprehension are a must. The entire point of the post was to say that WE, including me need to buy less stuff.
Denise, yeah I was having trouble with the cover too. It’s just so obnoxious and it has nothing to do with anything.
Noel - Love the title of this post. I hope to read the book someday, but unfortunately I can only go off of the author’s guest appearance on Oprah. She seems to be putting out an overall good message and educating a lot of people about the benefits of organics (it happens to my part of my mission too). While I would much rather support small, born to-be eco-friendly businesses, Target is an accessible and affordable option for the masses of people who need to understand that conventional baby products are a bad deal for baby’s health and the planet. And unfortunately some people will only hear the message from a pretty face on a pretty cover that advocates pretty packaged products. Peace 2 ya.
Sadly, I was drawn in to the book originally because of the cover, but after paging through it felt the same sentiment (of your post.) It’s disappointing because I do agree that if the cover (or the fact the Julia Roberts?) engages people who would like to learn more about leading a more green life, great. I only wish there were some better tips.
this book irks me too. I have not read it, but I did sign up for the website…. because apparently you have to be a ‘member’ to get the ‘good’ tips. There is not. one. useful. fact on the website. It is basically a collection of recipes and product reviews, and you can get that from any number of other places without putting your name on a list. The whole thing seems very, very superficial. BUT, I have to say, that since we are living in a CONSUMER CULTURE, I suppose there’s something to be said for encouraging people (who are going to consume ANYWAY) to consume responsibly.
AND, I am totally with you on the whole bamboo thing. Yes it is sustainable and wonderful, but it’s not that simple.
I invite Peter to peruse the following quotes from articles on treehugger.com:
‘Michael Lackman of Lotus concludes, “The growing of bamboo is environmentally friendly but the manufacturing of bamboo into fabric raises environmental and health concerns because of the strong chemical solvents used to cook the bamboo plant into a viscose solution that is then reconstructed into cellulose fiber for weaving into yarn for fabric.â€
“it is clear that bamboo is not necessarily being managed in a sustainable fashion. It is true that it naturally regenerates, but forests are being cleared to grow it and it is becoming a monoculture. Although it is claimed that fertilizers are not necessary, in fact they are being used to increase yield.”
those two articles can be read in their entierty at
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/is_bamboo_cloth.php
and
/www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/bamboo_flooring.php
respectively.