Eco-Tip 29

Every week we'll post another easy tip to help you be environmentally friendly.

Eco-Tip 29

Be on the look-out for random eco-friendly products. I stress here that it is not necessary (and probably not possible) to go utterly carbon neutral overnight, buy only recycled materials, buy only local organic food, etc. However, if you see a new cereal at the market that's packaged in a box made of recycled fiber, for instance, go buy it., especially if your usual cereal doesn't come in that sort of box. The purpose of this is not to deprive yourself of what you like so you can save the environment; rather, think of the long term effects: eventually, companies will see that to stay on the market, they need some way to make themselves look genuinely green (that's why you need to make sure it's really genuine! Do not fall for any phony gimmicks!) to keep customers buying. Take Apple for instance: they've turned their hyper-thin computer style to advertise that they use less packaging and they use primarily non-toxic chemicals in their computers. That's certainly a reason why Microsoft is losing its control of the technological market. The government gives people tax breaks for using solar panels or driving hybrid cars as a push for the buyer to buy green products and for the producers to produce green products. You can do that perfectly well without the government!