Treehugger angers up my blood
One of the feeds that I read is Treehugger. It covers environmentally senstive products. The problem is that the word sustainable seems to automatically multiply the cost that item by a factor of seven. For example:
This cute little knitted toy is "handmade by artisans in rural Kenya. The octopus is created with natural wool yarn treated with natural vegetable-based dyes. It's filled with acrylic (ah well, natural stuffing would have been better). The price is $92" Go ahead and wipe the coffee/tea/whiskey off of your monitors. I can appreciate that it is not mass produced and the people that manufacture it need to eat too, but $92 for a stuffed toy! I would love nothing more than to feel good that this was not made in a sweatshop, but as a consumer I'm a bit underwhelmed.
While posting this message I find that I am not the only one who noticed this too. Tim Haab posted the following to the Environment Economics blog:
I was browsing around over at treehugger.com and here are some of the gifts you can get for under $100.
Now here's what I can get at Toys'R'Us:
Who says markets can't put a price on the environment?
I think that Treehugger will be going into my on notice file. And don't get me started on the $225 scarf made out of upholstery scraps.
This cute little knitted toy is "handmade by artisans in rural Kenya. The octopus is created with natural wool yarn treated with natural vegetable-based dyes. It's filled with acrylic (ah well, natural stuffing would have been better). The price is $92" Go ahead and wipe the coffee/tea/whiskey off of your monitors. I can appreciate that it is not mass produced and the people that manufacture it need to eat too, but $92 for a stuffed toy! I would love nothing more than to feel good that this was not made in a sweatshop, but as a consumer I'm a bit underwhelmed.
While posting this message I find that I am not the only one who noticed this too. Tim Haab posted the following to the Environment Economics blog:
I was browsing around over at treehugger.com and here are some of the gifts you can get for under $100.
- A sustainably harvested maple animal puzzle: $98
- A natural wool yarn knot octopus--with vegetable based dyes: $92
- A birch rocking horse with hand-painted face: $52
- Bauhaus building blocks: $150
Now here's what I can get at Toys'R'Us:
- 16-piece solid wood farm cube puzzle: $7.99
- 18-inch hot purple bean bag octopus: $14.49
- Clippety Clop 'classic wooden' Rocking Horse: $39.99
- Brio wooden colored building blocks: $19.99
Who says markets can't put a price on the environment?
I think that Treehugger will be going into my on notice file. And don't get me started on the $225 scarf made out of upholstery scraps.