“I don’t trust ‘natural.’ People are always dying of natural causes.”— Woman looking at food labels, in a Richard Guindon cartoon
Roll playing games?
Photo: Laura Cacho.
Shoppers of the world, I have just one question: Are you an eco-chump?
Lots of us try to shop green. We buy unbleached paper towels and recycled products, some with more than 5 percent post-consumer content. Commend McDonald’s for banning Styrofoam, and shun them for lying about beef fat in the fries. Save our paychecks because we suffer from Prius envy. Wouldn’t be caught dead at Wal-Mart because, well, it’s Wal-Mart.
But a green consumer is still a consumer, and the evil marketing geniuses who run the world know this. They prey on our longings: love your mother, do well by doing good, live simply that others may simply live … They put symbols of renewal on plastic packaging. They market products with terms the FDA has yet to define. They overcharge, because they know eco-chumps pay more, eagerly, if it helps us feel a reverent connection with all things.
I know just wh... Read more
