Tuesday, November 23, 2010 By Lyanne Natividad [ArticleImageHyperLink] Advertising Putting a price on saving the planet (Nov. 23, 2010) -- We are constantly told that we can do anything and help any cause, no matter how insignificant we think our actions may be. However, it’s not so easy to help out when others don’t meet you halfway. Walking into a school supply store, I noticed the recycled, “greener” notebooks on display. I picked up a few, and shortly after doing so, noticed that the price of a regular notebook was just about half the price, sold in cheaper packs of five or six. Why are these “green” notebooks more expensive than regular notebooks if their material is recycled? Is using/processing the material taken directly from trees really cheaper? Even if these recycled products did cost a bit more to produce, these companies would still sell them at a discounted price if they were really serious about helping the environment. The problem is that these products don’t cost more to produce. According to a recent article in  the Wall Street Journal, companies like TerraCycle are making their products out of trash, which keeps their raw-materials costs down. New Leaf Paper is working with a mill in Canada that derives its power from methane gas taken from a landfill, and Eco-Products in Colorado uses a corn derivative instead of petroleum, which keeps their prices stable. This saves them the cost of using fossil fuels. Considering the cheaper cost of production and the companies’ expected increase in revenue (due to an increase in demand among increasingly environmentally-aware consumers), one would expect companies to be cutting down on the prices of their products. Instead, they’re just expanding their lines and making a larger variety of goods. Companies make their “green” products more eye-catching and appealing with aesthetically-pleasing designs. What turns people away is the price, which outweighs all factors, sending consumers to the more reasonable multi-notebook packs. Most people cannot afford an entire set of recycled notebooks, and naturally go for the cheaper items. The idea/goal of trying to coax people to “go green” is ultimately lost. It’s becoming increasingly apparent to me that businesses are milking the “going green” effort. This has led me to question the true intentions of manufacturers. Do they really want to help the world, or are they just taking advantage of an increasingly popular cause to line their pockets with riches? If they truly aimed to better our environmental situation, they’d give people a reason to help—some initiative. They’d make the “green” notebooks cheaper than the non-recycled notebooks in order to push people to make purchases in favor of the environment. More people would be able to support the cause, and we’d all be better off. Until the industry gets past its greed, society cannot hope to achieve much. Businesses must set their sights on a different kind of green.

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