Is that not a contradiction in terms?
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
At the EcoBuild 2010 Show held at London's Earl's Court in the beginning of March 2010 there were a fair number of plywood manufacturers who were marketing their products as “green” products and concrete manufacturers did the same.
Personally, I must say, I have great problems with eco-friendliness of both plywood, as well as concrete. But it is plywood that we are looking at here and not concrete.
While the woods used in the manufacture of plywood may come from FSC certified sources or such, it is not that what I am questioning. They indeed do very often nowadays. My problem as regards to plywood is not the wood but the manufacturing method and process and especially and particularly here the glues that are used to bond the boards together.
Just putting your nose to plywood will tell you that the glues used may be rather a little on the toxic side and they keep gassing off fumes for a long time to come.
Let me put it that was: Until such a time that some independent and trusted source tells me tot he contrary I will consider plywood, for reasons of the resins and glues used to bond it, as not very green, to say the least.
Greenwash seems to be rather big all over the place, and this as much as regards to plywood, concrete, or other aspects, ever since eco-consciousness has caught on with the public.
We must all stand against this stupidity, against this fraud, and the green media especially. All too often, however, journalists and editors in the green media just simply seem to take press releases for products and run with it, even as a “review”, while not having even tested the products and services.
Plywood and concrete are not, I know, the only things of this nature that are being grenwashed by their makers, often aided and abetted, unintentionally or even intentionally, by green media people.
The British Conservative Party seems to be adding nuclear power to that, as does the current government. While nuclear power may not have any carbon emission and, as long as there are no releases of anything, no pollution coming out of chimneys, as they don't have any, nuclear power is not green and environmentally-friendly. The CO2 issue seems to be pushing common sense and all aside; all that is considered is CO2 emissions.
The climate change agenda has indeed hijacked the green and environmental movement, having directed us all – though I refuse to be directed – towards CO2 emissions only. All other issues have fallen, it would seem, by the way.
Discernment is what is needed here by everyone.
Let us not be deceived. They will pass many a things off as green and environmentally-friendly that is not if we are not all very watchful.
Environmentally-friendly plywood? Methinks not...
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