Why Being 'Environmentally Friendly' Is A Scam

Those eco-friendly products may not be as great as you think

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Written by: Tharsan Kana & Mitchell Moffit
Edited by: Luka Šarlija

Further Reading + Sources:

[lanamello]

Reduce all that is possible, reuse what's left, dispose correctly of the rest. I feel that being environmentally friendly as a singular person is more a state of mind and clean consciousness than believing I'm actually doing any change.

[Shebacca]

someone finally said it! I’ve been saying it for years. YEARS! Whenever a product says environmentally friendly, They think they can up the price by four dollars… I love you guys

[CryptP]

One of my biggest problems is still companies entirely putting all responsibility and therefore blame on the consumer. Most pollution isn't packaging for consumer products, and it's literally just a way for companies to shift the blame away from themselves, production processes, and other sources of pollution. We need to focus on the areas where the most pollution is created and keep the pressure on them to create less waste, rather than allowing them to keep shifting it back to us

[EPICSHEEK]

I remember buying one time of those pre made salads. It came wrapped in plastic, with a plastic lid in a plastic container, with sauce on a plastic bag, BUT IT CANE WITH A WOODEN FORK.

[xXNibiNoNekoXx]

Remember that of the slogan "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" that reduce is _the_ most important part. Our society is incredibly materialistic, so buying less overall (and making for sure that the things we buy aren't as bad) is better then the other two R's.

[mikemikemikemikemikemeup]

Apple does this a lot. They highlight the “environmentally friendly” stuff that they do. but ignore the fact that they make it harder for you to fix your phone forcing you to buy a new phone that’s being worse for the environment. Their new thing is that they recycle the used phones. But they wouldn’t have as many used phones that they would need to recycle if they would allow people to fix their phones that want to.

[audbee]

I’m so glad someone’s finally taking about greenwashing. I hate seeing so many people buying something that’s “eco-friendly” that really is doing the exact opposite thing. I did a research project about this a while ago, so it’s nice to see a more popular video addressing these concerns

[JVGaming]

"ask for forgiveness and not permission" is the best summary of what these evil companies do

[datsweggybruh]

Recycling is a scam in of itself. Most "recyclables" aren't actually recycled due to blue bin impurities, low recycling profits, and lack of infrastructure like what was mentioned in the video. Or they are recycled into non-recyclable materials. Or only part of them is recycled. Yet this remains the magic word that makes something suddenly good for the planet.
Also the process of recycling still emits pollution, and has drawbacks like what's listed above. Reusing should be prioritized, with recycling as a last resort. That's why it's "reduce *reuse* recycle", not "recycle and you're all good".

[domloveart]

I work at a retail store and when we have a product that's discontinued or damaged we flat out throw it away (even if it were blankets or hygiene products, in general things that would help people in need). And even if the employees were to take the products we would be fired for theft 😐 it hurts seeing things like that, a lot of the time in perfect condition, being tossed in the dumpster and wasted

[darkwoodmovies]

It's almost impressive how everything is just a legal scam. This world is so greedy.

[robbieandrew]

It is always worth reminding yourself that the most eco-friendly choice you can make when choosing which product to buy, is to not buy it at all. There is a reason reduce comes before reuse and recycle in the "three Rs".

[cliffritch]

This reminds me of one specific product I saw that relied on the ignorance of the consumer. There was water that was advertised as "organic." Does that mean they inject carbon compounds into the water? It just seemed like the weirdest food product to be labeled as organic

[muizzsiddique]

For the first Sin, there's a reason why Reduce is mentioned before Reuse, and why Reuse comes before Recycle.

[mustwereallydothis]

To me, at least, being sold a drink in a plastic cup with a plastic lid with a disgusting paper straw is the very definition of absurdity.

Edit: I will no longer be replying to people, kindly informing me that reusable straws exist. If you feel a burning need to do so, I advise you to read my comment again... slowly.

[murphydaveelte]

Great video - I think that "Why buying 'environmentally friendly'..." might have been a more appropriate title. 'Being' environmentally friendly ISN'T a scam - it's essential to our survival!

[horizon]

We need to shout this everywhere. Emphasize this line above all else: “These companies aren’t willingly going to sacrifice their profits for the betterment of humanity so we need to make them.” Because it is a fact that many humans will do whatever it takes to get rich.

[cornbone]

"the sin of irrelevance" IMMEDIATELY made me think of companies putting "silicone free" on shampoo and "sulfate free" on conditioner, with both ingredients being used in the opposite order

[TryinBin]

In Australia we banned single use plastic bags. This included biodegradable bags certain shops used to sell, including my own local IGA's compostable bags- you had to pay for them and treat them like multi-use. I think it was a step in the right direction, but now instead shops sell 15c bags that are massive and just plastic monsters, which defeats the purpose of the single use bag ban in the first place. I would prefer if we had paper bags or something to use, or if people used baskets or something instead, but as a Coles worker I think I sell almost or even more than 100 'single use' bags an hour. We restock them by the stack every night. It's horrific and money-grabbing for the big corporations.

[perpetualcommotion]

I read the title as “why being mentally stable is a scam” while extremely tired and I was like, “hey there’s one scam I managed to avoid!!”