Why is "going green" so popular?

Question

I've noticed it everywhere. I can't even turn on the radio without being bombarded by "green" advertisements. It's even playing a role in the primaries (elections).

I just don't understand what's so great about it I guess. I know it's supposed to "save the environment" but I think it's just a way for politiciians and appliance companies to make their wallets a little greener. It's being made popular by people in LA and NY, but where I live there are plenty of trees, bugs and animals doing just fine...

Energy Star appliances have ALWAYS been around-- for years. But now that everyone is supposed to "go green", they've jacked up the prices.

My husband has only been out of college for a year and I'm not even done yet. We don't have money to "go green" and people act like we're so awful for not doing it. Heck, why don't we just move out of our apartment and live in a burlap tent out in the woods? We can eat grass and brush our teeth with sticks-- after all, that's the green thing to do

Answer 1

"green" things are expensive at first, but in the long run they really save you a lot of money.

the point of going green is to just be more resourceful...I'm in the dorms and I can't really control what's green here or not....

Small things like: shorter showers, turning off the water while brushing your teeth and turning it on when you rinse, turning off your computer or putting it on Hibernation when you don't use it and turning off the light when you don't need it.....that all is something small and "Green" to do and it'll save you money.

Recycling and making sure you don't use Styrofoam are other things you can do too. You don't have to live in a squirrel hole to be a true "green" person.

If you don't have the money, and people are on your a$$ about it, just tell them to donate to your "i can't go green" fund, and see if they'll help you be green so they can be happy. otherwise, they can't talk. I use that one alot.

Answer 2

Actually Earth Day is April 22. Always has been, always will.

Going green is becomming popular where I live, because I live in a desert and we need to conserve water and try to preserve the desert. BUT the builders come here and tear up the desert and build "GREEN" houses (houses that have a low impact on the environment). This in turn brings more people that produce more waste and electricity. Doesn't make sense.

I wanted to have solar panels installed on my house because we get a lot of sun here, but they are waaaay to expensive, won't see a return on the cost for a long time. IT would only make sense for the power companies here to install the solar panels on the houses and take advantage of the 300+ days of sun here, but they want the green in their wallets from the people that use all the electricity that they generate. They tell us to turn up our thermastats so that the air conditioners are not running so much, but you try to stay comfortable in a house when it is 120 degrees outside and 90 inside...then they tell us to use fans, but those in turn use electricity which has an impact on the environment...which in turn cost you more money because you use either the water in the bath to cool off or have a big swimming pool, which uses electricity and the water that they want us to conserve....then you get caught in a never ending cycle that will still have an impact on the environment.

So I would say that it is just a way for them to make money....

Answer 3

u might hv heard the go green slogan 4 the earth day recently..... it is just to make u aware that the number of trees is depleting day by day... which is causing green house effect in our earth's atmosphere...which wud ultimately lead to the vanishing of the human race...... so to encourage the people to grow more and more trees... the slogan has been raised "GO GREEN"

Answer 4

it sells new more profitable products & makes people feel good by convincing them they are doing something rightous without inconveniencing themselves, by paying 15% to 40% more for the green products. or as in the case of light bulbs up to 300% more.

its a triumph of advertising & consumer control for industry.

Answer 5

It's popular because advertisers have discovered that it's a great way to convince people to pay a premium price for an inferior product- think "organic" food that costs twice as much, rots in half the time and is twice as likely to be contaminated with bacteria.  The "green" marketers prey on ignorance and superstition and as P.T. Barnum said, there's one born every minute.

Answer 6

well saturday was earth day. so you are hearing more about it lately

so it's all a gimic of people pretending to care to make $$$.

for the record, the environment in general is completely messed up. just because things are living doesnt mean its fine. Nearly all groundwater is polluted with something humans put on the earth, fertilizers, pesticides, chemicals from industry, etc.

Answer 7

I really don't know.

Answer 8

A couple of things:

1.  Watch the program Life After People.  You will realize that the Earth will shake us off like a bad case of fleas.

2.  All the 'Green' products people are purchasing; remember where they are made?  China, Mexico, India.  Hmm...I don't recall any of these countries using 'Green' methods to mass produce cleaning chemicals and canvas grocery sacks.  

One may feel 'good' about using biodegradable products but one must remember that the process of making them is hardly Earth friendly.

Answer 9

Im a christain too and i dont believe in al gore i believe in god. Honestly if AL Gore comes on TV or the radio i turn it. I think God will take good care of us but ya know what we have to do our part too! we need to recycle because after all we do live in this world and god gives us these oppurtunitys to go green so we can help the enviroment., some people think oh its not worth it in the end but it really is worth it because it helps everything!!!!

Answer 10

Apart from the obvious benefits to our children and future generations, the ethical and moral considerations, the fact that there is a market for green tech and the fact that people have figured out they can actually save money....

I dunno.  Must be some neo-liberal, radical environmentalist takeover or something.  You should be dead set against it no matter what.  It's way more cool to be rebellious against "the system."

Answer 11

I think it has to do with the hippy generation being in charge of the country. I am 29 and I was brought up having an awareness of our earth. a lot of older people feel guilty about the polution that they let happen. I recycle but I still burn my leaves in the fall. PEACE

Answer 12

I think its the sense of fear related to the impending extinction of our species that motivates most.  Don't think of "green" as an expense.  If you just avoid WASTING natural resources in your average day you'll be doing more than most people in the US.  Then look for small simple things that will help and won't cast you money you can't afford.  Choices of packaging, for example.  It's a "nickle and dime" approach but that's the only one possible.  It isn't a monolithic problem, it has a myriad of sources.  Every one you address makes the world a little better place for everyone who lives on it.

Answer 13

Because people care about the Earth and want to conserve energy and stop global warming so polar bears don't go extinct. Energy Star appliances save lots of energy, so do CFLs. It also saves money, and who doesn't love to save $?