Is Going Green a PR Stunt?

Is going "green" a PR stunt? In some case, YES. Caveat emptor still applies.

As long as going green also means good returns for shareholders, then it's more than a PR stunt. Corporations are taking emissions very seriously these days. I know first-hand that there are teams of global wind power engineers, working right now for American companies, focused on providing additional, clean power for rapidly expanding economies, while improving local environments, in places like China and India (as well as for the US).

Remember: Conservation reduces the impact of ANY technology!

Yep. The bottom line is still the bottom line. The question at this point is not whether any of these technologies will ever provide more than 1-2% of the earth's energy requirements, but how to take financial advantage of people stupid enough to believe they really can impact the fate of this miserable blob of mud revolving furiously around a medium sized nuclear furnace in a galaxy of billions of similar nuclear furnaces.

Hmmmmmmmm, seeing as GE is one of the big makers of those pesky lil' ol' green friendly screw in flourescent lamps that are all the fad now a days, I would say that yes it is something. Maybe not a pr stunt... Who knows for sure? The corporations pushing this agenda would not openly admit that they are making a killing off of the fears of the people that buy into their whole "green friendly" scam.

I myself prefer the ol' steadfast incandescent light bulb. Nicer light (color wise) for my eyes all round... Flourescent (tube) lamps even with the rapid start balasts that are the norm now adays they start chattering and strobing and driving me towards a migraine. Oh, and the buzz that can be emitted at times is terrible, but I digress...

Cheers

What with the Hg they contain, combined with our dismal record on resource recovery, i'm afraid CFLs willnot be as green as hoped.

The new fluorescent lamps are very quiet and available in many different color temperatures. I have seen exhibits where you cannot see the source of light and you would be hard put to tell which one is the incandescent. As fare as steadfast, I have fluorescence lights that have lasted far longer than incandescent lights.

In a word, YES!! The largest profit in the retail market is any item sold as a Green alternative. They usually are nothing more than a repackaging of another version that did not sell as well.

Dragon

Sounds like "recycling"?

Of course it is. And guess who's going to pay for it, yeah, you and I.

State and federal governments same, same.

There is a simple way to save billions of dollars and prevent many accidents as well as save untold millions of man-hours! Shut down all toll booths on all highways, bridges, and byways.

I know most of the USA don't have that big a problem yet, but try traveling in the northeast, sitting in traffic for two or three hours just to get to the toll booth.

If you buy"Energy Star" bulbs and there is any problem within two year of purchase you should be able to get a replacement. Not all bulbs are equal.

Unfortunately, I think it's mostly PR to glom more do-rey-mi from the gullible masses. Some stores, like Kohl's and maybe some WalMarts, are at least making an effort to offset their consumption with on-site generation--some of the other bloggers have mentioned that the quality of CFL's is spotty and leaves something to be desired, but I saved 1/3 on my electric bill by switching all my bulbs[mine had a little sticker saying "Approved by SCE", for whatever that's worth]

No, the serious green response will have to come from consumer choice, not mass-marketing--one easy thing consumers can use is the "Energy Star" rating system--look for that little blue label! They even put them on houses now...

First off I need to say this: I WILL NEVER GO GREEN!!! I am just to "damn cheap" to go green.

If you live in the U.S.A. you will understand what I say when I tell you my electrical use is so low that my service charges cost me more. Same with my natural gas bill.

Green, heck no! PR, heck yea!!!

The house is always 74 degree F with 34% humidity. (Outside temperature is 102 degree or 10 degree F). Three people live in this home and always has someone in it 24-7. Oh I might add that we don't live in a cave and we have the same crap in our home that everybody else does.

My income says I can have a 4000 sq foot home with a 3 stall garage. Na, I am to cheap. Instead, 1000 sq foot home with a two car carport. Got everything I need and I live good and sensible.

"corporations pushing this agenda "

I thought the anti corporate, left wing peace prize recipient Al Gore was the doctor of, earth coming to an end, global warming???

I work for a company that is providing greener manufacturing approaches for less energy consumption and less waste. The capital expense was huge but we do have a break even point in sight. We found out recently that we cannot market our product as "green" or "environmentally friendly" because those words among others have been patented.

At it appears, the vast majority of US consumers do not care how a product impacts the environment, they just care if it will save them money. CFL might reduce our energy bills but they are only cleaner if properly recycled. Most people do not recycle their CFL lighting. Also, the $0.05 deposit on bottles and cans worked back when $1.00 was worth something. Now it costs more to drive to and from a redemption center then the recyclables are worth.

On a more optimistic note, I do see an uprise in use and availability of organic fertilizers. I think with rising food prices, DIY gardening will increase in popularity, bringing more demand for natural fertilizers and pesticides.

Dear Guest,

Will you inform us as to who holds the patent on "green" or "environmentally friendly?"

I would rather think that congress has created an FDA or a Department of Commerce that regulates what one can claim is "green." I am not sure what I think about that; it assumes we are stupid. It violates my libertarian conscience. As a people, we may be stupid or not but regulation has permeated all aspects of our life.

What really interests me and should interest engineers about this post by "Guest" is this:

"At it appears, the vast majority of US consumers do not care how a product impacts the environment, and they just care if it will save them money."

I agree with this obvious truth. Any teacher will tell you that people can only learn what they are motivated to learn. And it gets back to being stupid; whatever we know nothing about, we are stupid about.

An old episode of "222" is about a teacher who could not motivate a student to read until one day he threw a dollar on the student's desk and asked, "Will you read it for this? The student was then eager. The rest of the show revolved around substituting a more palatable reward for learning.

We all know that the dollar is motivation when there is nothing else that will motivate the learner. It is pragmatic and rational if it will get the job done. If that is what it takes as designers and facilitators then we must work with what we have. If it takes value to motivate people to buy an alternative energy source, then that must be the goal.

The power of the consumer can be tapped to solve the energy crisis quickly if they get good value in return. Government has only a fraction of the buying power of the consumer. Here is the context of perhaps the clincher to the sales pitch for alternative energy "Oh, and by the way Mr & Mrs consumer, the device is non-polluting!" But first they want to know about value in order to buy it. We must build alternative energy machines that function, save money and are automatic. And they will probably have to be guaranteed at least until the pay back.

That is the only way that it will get done. This is the positive way of the free market. No one is being coerced. People do not respond to force. The Global Warming faction has divided us deeply with questionable conclusions without complete evidence that man causes global warming. Their solution is a bonanza for politicians and the political class. And when this is pointed out to the people who incessantly trash "Americans" their reply is, "Better to be safe than sorry! "

But I say no, not at the enormous price these hasty conclusions have on our liberties. But as we all can see the "blame America first" crowd cannot keep their mouth shut And with the notion of world calamity associated with Global Warming, Greens have stolen the very notion of conservation.

Instead they insist on pristine and the end of this means is that private property is transferred to the state; individuals cannot be trusted owning "sensitive" property. And "sensitive" means pinelands, wetlands, watershed, waterfront, and any property that contains a "sensitive" ecosystem. That can be rationalized to be any private property. One congresswoman suggested congress might take over the oil industry.

These sorry Americans are quick to coerce people; they want to bang it into their head, arrest them and send them to reeducation camps for improperly packaging their waste. Their strategy is to strike fear into their hearts that floods and great tidal waves will wash them away and destroy the polar bear's habitat.

Of course, it is the energy gluttonous Americans who are guilty again. At least that is the impression the world is given by the Global warming crowd as they fly around in luxury trashing our way of life to the rest of the world.

Both elected and amateur politicians are always plying for bigger government and the ascendancy of the state. "Global Warming is merely sloganeering, the rallying cry in the Greens politics of fear.

Sorry, it's a TM not patent. It's held by Robert Green in regards to his footwear brand "Green." Reg# 1151799 & 2343501. I make footwear from recycled materials using low energy processes and am obligated to not using solvent based adhesives, PVC, foams, and other traditional elements that can be considered harmful in mass production. We've been threatened not to use of the word green on our product even though our connotation for the word is different. His branding relates only to his last name, nothing more. I just learned the use of environmentally friendly is fine. Some misguidance spawned from an article in a popular footwear publication and created confusion. I guess just because something is published in a highly regarded periodical, doesn't mean it has to be true.

NATURAL COMMODITY CAN NOT BE MANUFACTURED INDUSTRIALLY.NATURAL COMMODITY CAN BE PROCESSED ONLY HENCE NATURAL COMMODITY IF LYING ANY WHERE CAN NOT GENERATE POLLUTION BUT IF PROCESSED /PRODUCED THAT MAY GENERATE POLLUTION PROBLEMS OR SIDE EFFECTS TO US.

GREEN WORLD SHOULD BE USED FOR NATURAL COMMODITY AS PRODUCED BY GOD NATURALLY WHICH WE HAVE COVERED IN ORGANIC , INORGANIC AND PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY -- EVERY THING FOUND IN NATIVE STATE SHOULD CALLED AS GREEN.

IF GREEN MATERIAL IS PROCESSED--- THAN THAT SHOULD BE CALLED AS---BLACK THAT MEANS GOING TOWARDS CARBON OR ASH.

HENCE CONVERSION FROM GREEN TO BLACK--INDUSTRIALLY---NEEDS POWER/ELECTRIC/ELECTRONICS ETC MEANS SOME LEVERAGE TO DISTURB THE NATURAL PHENOMENON /COMMODITY.

NOW THE TIME IS COMING FOR NATURAL COMMODITY TO USE AND LIVE WITH NATURE AND A NATURAL/NATIVE GOD CREATED THINGS FOR LONG LIFE AND PEACE.

COLLECTIVE FORMING TRENDS ARE GOING TO DEVELOP VERY FAST IN THOSE COUNTRIES WHERE BASE OF AGRICULTURE IS STRONG AND MAXIMUM POPULATION IS UNDER MEDICAL TREATMENT DUE TO BLACK/PROCESSED MATERIALS UTILIZATION IN BULK QUANTITY DAILY BY THEM AND LATEST TECHNOLOGIES TO GENERATE BLACK THINGS MORE ARE BEING TRANSFERRED / EXPORTED BY WEST COUNTRIES DOING DEVELOPMENTS IN NEGATIVE DIRECTIONS.

HENCE THE SATURATION PERIOD OF A BALLOON IS OVER AND BECAME MUCH LARGE TO EXPLODE . BLACK IS GOING DAILY IN OUR BODY WHO GENERATE NUMBER OF UNKNOWN DECEASES .BODY REQUIRED AGAIN POISION/ MADICIN TO RECTIFY.

SO GREEN IS BETTER THAN BLACK.INVESTORS WHO ARE READY TO INVEST IN GREEN POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS AND POWER MACHINERY ( NEW RESEARCHERS ARE ALSO WELCOME) INDUSTRIALLY ALL WELCOME TO DEVELOP THEIR HEALTH AND WEALTH .MANUFACTURING/GENERATING OR UTILIZING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT FOR GREENERY TRADE EITHER IN AGRICULTURAL OR OTHER , BASED COUNTRIES WILL EARN UNEXPECTEDLY MUCH IN NEAR FUTURE IF MOVED TOWARDS GREENERY. SO PLEASE BECOME NATURAL AND NEARER TO NATURE AND BECOME YOURSELF GREENED BY NATIVE-HEART/ BODY/SOUL ETC ETC.. -SHAILENDRA SHUKLA

What ????? is that that you are refering too? For the thread? That is a very informative clip. I enjoyed it. But there was nothing there about global warming being man made, in fact it was not really mentioned in the clip. Good clip though...

Cheers