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Styrofoam ® (or polystyrene foam). Someone I know calls it "the Devil's material" and I agree with that sentiment. I see my office use up an entire stack of styrofoam cups each morning and it makes me cringe to know these cups will linger in a landfill long after I'm dead and gone.
There are also
plenty of chemicals that are used by people on a daily basis - shampoo, cleaners, pesticides, etc. - that are harmful to the environment.
I propose we start adding warning labels to these household products, so consumers can no longer use ignorance as an excuse for carelessness. My goal is to make people mindful of which products contain chemicals that may pollute the air, water, or food supply of our planet.
We already warn consumers to keep chemicals away from our eyes or skin if damage would likely occur, but what about indirect damage? It all affects us eventually.
These labels may say something like...
"WARNING: This product contains one or more volitile chemicals that may pollute groundwater. Pollution in groundwater can poison wildlife and may eventually cause cancer or other health problems in wildlife and humans."
"WARNING: Antibacterial agents contained in this product may adversely upset the balance of microorganisms, which can eventually lead to an overabundance of resistant bacteria. Please use with caution."
"WARNING: This product contains materials that do not biodegrade for centuries.
These environmental danger warning labels would have to be a governmental thing, of course, as no company would voluntarily voice environmental dangers on their own products. My hope is that if the government exposed these dangers to the public, that companies would be more careful about making more Earth-friendly products, so they don't legally have to carry these warning labels.
Pollution in Newborns (yes, human newborns)
http://www.ewg.org/...urden2/execsumm.php
Think of the children! [XSarenkaX, Aug 24 2005]
Earth Friendly Products
http://www.ecos.com...outsub/freedom.html
I like this company's products. They are safer than the typical stuff out there today. [XSarenkaX, Aug 24 2005]
Physics Warning Labels
http://www.msu.edu/...physics/warning.htm
From The Journal of Irreproducible Results. [farble, Aug 24 2005]
Fabric labelling
http://strategis.ic...sf/en/ca02009e.html
Requires some understanding of why the choice is given. [reensure, Aug 24 2005]
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL.
E.g., http://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)
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A worthy cause, but current industry-mandated labels are so fraught with politics and commercialism that the net result is misleading, if not entirely inaccurate - witness the candy marketed as "fat free." Furthermore, there is not anything in our lives that is not harmful in excess. |
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But anything that increases public awareness and individual education as to the environmental impact of different products and packaging options, gets a croissant from me. |
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A general purpose warning from the list of physics warning labels (see link): |
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Public Notice as Required by Law: Any Use of This Product, in Any Manner Whatsoever, Will Increase the Amount of Disorder in the Universe. Although No Liability Is Implied Herein, the Consumer Is Warned That This Process Will Ultimately Lead to the Heat Death of the Universe. |
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I love it, [farble]! The world would be covered in these labels, wouldn't it? |
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Yes, [XSarenkaX], and the more depressing the label, the more it matches my frame of mind having just returned from vacation. |
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Is there not a series of dots on labels that does just this? Hmm. <link> |
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Although it would appear those are just to give you some idea of the energy and chemical resources used to maintain the product and what chemicals or natural fibers comprise it, nothing about whether the products were carried by donkey to market or floated inside wax balls, and certainly nothing about the slave labor hours involved or the economics of skin cancer solutions. heh. |
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Sorry, the Idea seems like a thinly veiled rant to me, so I reciprocated. |
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If there are dots on labels already, I'm
certainly not aware what they mean.
What could is a code if nobody
understands it? What's wrong with plain
English? |
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The dots in your link are about
temperatures for washing labeled
garments. They appear to have nothing
to do with the garments' or other
products' effects on the Environment. |
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//that companies would be more careful about making more Earth-friendly products// Conventional wisdom would say this should happen. But I'm constantly amazed by people... cigarette labels basically say "This Will kill You", but nothing changes. In the United States, not only has the paradigm not shifted yet, but it is barely moving - most cities here don't even recycle. The potential of this idea may be entirely lost on the country that causes the most problems. Maybe if the rest of the world does it, the U.S will follow 50 years later. |
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