Monday, October 22, 2007

How green is my...well... anything?

Supermarkets fail to be “truly green”

Attracted by that headline, I have to now question the value of such surveys, especially under the rather vague catch-all banner of 'green' or indeed what makes one so... or not.

In just one week I think I was sent at least three. And while the protagonists were similar, their rankings bounced around so much as to make comparisons less than helpful.

Of course it is down to methodologies, but what consumer has the time or inclination to delve too deeply.

Which, like the plethora of existing and proposed labelling schemes, makes one question what value these things have save to create a bit of revenue for those who play with such things, those who write about them (myself included) and a a few box-tickers somewhere.

Not sure if my kids or the planet gain much, though.

Especially now, having seen the latest Volkswagen Bluemotion car TVC, our future brand new car purchases are apparently to be pitched in terms of the number of plastic bag equivalents driving one will 'save' a year. Do what???!

ps: I never did get told how much actual plastic (in weight/volume/Fairy Liquid bottles), the seeming 200+/- that 'we' use each year equates tot warrant the peculiar devotion this 'product' excites in seaside councils and Islington-residing journalists.

Guardian - A molehill of mange

While they may once have had some minor value, all polls and surveys are hardly worth the keyboard strokes that go into their creation, publishing or subsequent discussion.

For a start there are so many. And second they all contradict each other.

Last week my little website got 3 separate surveys on 'green' supermarkets. In one Tesco was top. In the next it was bottom.

I asked for methodology and got little the wiser. So I ignore them all, save on my blog where I made roughly this point.

So, in addition to the vast armies employed to create and analyse this dross, I can add myself as one more who profited slightly for their pointless existence.

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