by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
We have established before that there is lots of greenwashing about and some of the terms really aid and abet that practice.
One of them is the statement “contains organic ingredients” and also the general that simply says “organic”:
Let's look at “organic” apple juice, in plastic bottles, which more than likely contain BPA. If one reads the label it then says apple juice (maybe also water) and, somewhere down the line you will find some preservative. It would have to be for otherwise the juice will not keep. So, erm, sorry, how is that “organic” apple juice when it contains preservatives?
According to sources salt suppliers, flour suppliers, and even those who provided dyes most seem to be ale to get an organic seal with little to no effort. Then come the marketers and slap the term “organic” right on the front of the box, often making the word three to four times larger than the accompanying print. So as you breeze the isles you see that one word stick out and choose the same non beneficial and sometimes downright bad for you product because marketing people took advantage of your want for a better and more healthy life.
Organic is not the do all say all. As they say: always read the label. If you don't recognize ingredients or see something you question, either pull up your smart phone and look it up, or put the product back and look at other options. This step alone will let you see quite a few hooks dangling from lures and let you identify the lure from the real thing.
Keep in mind that just because the word organic is in a product, doesn't make it a better product; after all, many poisons are also organic.
Now we come to “recycled” and even “100% recycled”: Again, what does this mean? Little in actual fact for the term is rather stretchy.
Recycled can mean even, as a buyer from a clothing company told me, as was the practice of one of their suppliers until they found out, making the material, fleece, in this case, then ripping it back up to make the “recycled” fleece. To all intents and purposes, under the letter, the resultant material and garments made from it were recycled product, but not in my book of ethics and neither that of the company the gentleman worked for.
What do you understand when you read the term “made from recycled plastic?” Would you not, like the great majority, assume that the product is made entirely from post-consumer recycled plastic? But it is not, will not and cannot, for only a maximum of 30% of recycled content can even be used as, otherwise, the material will have not enough strength. This is primarily for shopping bags and such like but also for a number of other products. There will always have to be virgin polymer in the compound and this will have to be over 50%.
The only term that you may be able to trust is “100% post-consumer”, as in some paper products and such.
Steel and aluminium can be 100% recycled and retain their full strength and those metals can be recycled again and again and again without losing strength and the same is true for glass.
Plastic and paper cannot be recycled indefinitely, as can steel, aluminium and some other metals, and glass. The two former products, whether pre- or post-consumer lose strength through the recycling process and will need to have virgin material added making a mockery of the recycled contents often.
So, beware and don't take everything at face value, and don't be deceived. Educate yourself – and others – as to the truths behind and in the claims.
© 2011
