Photo By IntangibleArts

The state of consumerism has turned into a revolving door of buying poorly made, environmentally unfriendly, disposable products manufactured with planned obsolescence in mind.  The only thing that the average consumer seems to care about now being how low of a price something can be obtained at. This in turn has led to our culture becoming more wasteful than at any point in human history.

It hasn’t always been this way though, it is actually a fairly new phenomenon, taking shape over the last twenty or so years. Before that, when you bought something you bought it to last. And in many cases these well built products are still in use today. Unlike their newer counterparts which if lucky, barely last a decade. Even worse, most corporations have outsourced their production to countries with little to no environmental regulations just to save a few pennies on the dollar which are used to entice you with lower prices.

You may be asking yourself, what can you do? how can one person make a difference? Well it can be done, you can make a difference. And for those who want to break this cycle and help the environment, here are a few easy steps to make your shopping more environmentally friendly.

Get To Know The Company Before You Buy

As difficult as this may sound, it has become beyond easy to do a little bit of research from the comfort of your own home. When you have a purchase in mind, find a few different makers, Google their corporate practices in regards to the environment, labor and quality. Then make an informed decision on which to buy. It really is that simple. And by doing so, it also helps the bottom line of the corporation you feel is meeting your standards.

It’s Cheap For A Reason

That old saying of, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, couldn’t be more correct. From child labor, environmental pollution, or just plain old poor quality. You get what you pay for. And if what you buy breaks, forcing you to buy it again and again, all you are doing is wasting money, and natural resources that could have been put to better use by building a sound, quality product the first time around. Ikea would be a prime example. Sure they have great deals on furniture, but that savings comes at the expense of deforestation of old growth forests which supply a large portion of Ikea’s supply of exotic woods. And every time that cheap piece of furniture breaks, you have to replace it again with totally new resources that will yet again be wasted on something that is not made to last.

Demand Responsible Corporate Practices

If your like many people, you probably think this is just a naive fantasy of hippies. But in truth, your voice, and actions can go a long way in making even the largest corporations change their course. Just look at all of the corporations abandoning the US Chamber of Commerce these last few weeks over their stance on global warming. Corporations like Nike, Apple, PG&E, and Exelon didn’t leave the organization because they felt it was the right thing to do, they did so because they knew it would damage their credibility with consumers who want action taken to combat global warming.

By Mark Johnson

These cars clung on for dear life to get Americans from Point A to Point B (albeit, sometimes with the help of a tow truck) for decades, and then they were handed in for scrap metal. The bond between clunker and owner is a sacred one. Only the owner of a clunker knows the secret trick to get that passenger side window to go down, or at precisely what speed the windshield wipers will stop working, or exactly the right combination of swear words to get the trunk to close. Talk to any good clunker owners and, sure, they’ll probably have their fair share of gripes with their cars, but they’ll also probably have nicknames for them and at least some degree of sentimental attachment. 

After the injection of an additional $2 billion to the Cash for Clunkers budget, hundreds of thousands of vehicles were traded in through the program. But what exactly happens in the final days of a clunker?

As if being traded in for a younger, sexier ride weren’t humiliating enough, many dealerships decided to add insult to injury and spray paint “clunker” on some trade-ins and stick them out in the lot for the world to see. Others found it amusing to put the cars in dumpsters. Most clunkers, however, went straight to the executioner.

The Cash for Clunkers bill stipulates that all traded-in cars must be destroyed and recycled. Dealerships are responsible for destroying the engine before sending the cars off to the scrap yard. They did this by replacing the car’s oil with a sodium silicate solution (often referred to as “liquid glass”) and running the engine until it seized up. The liquid glass simulates years of wear and tear on the engine and destroys it in a matter of minutes. 

Once the engine had been destroyed, the car was completely drained of all liquids and taken to a scrap yard. There, the reusable parts were salvaged and the car compressed into a small cube for recycling.

For those who resisted the temptation and stuck with their clunkers throughout the summer, take solace in knowing the fate you saved your beloved from. Hopefully, your car will appreciate it too and maybe spare you a breakdown or two in the months to come.

By Elizabeth Wolfe