62 AMERICANWAY
OCTOBER 1 2007
expensive there than the equally green
bamboo sheets at JCPenney are. “Take soy
candles, for instance,” says Danny Seo, an
environmental-lifestyle columnist and the
author of the Simply Green book series.
“There are some fancy-schmancy versions
out there for$30, $40. But you canget one
atTarget forfivebucks.”
“You’re seeing some green products try-
ing to appeal to a totally different group of
consumers to position themselves in the
luxury market,” says Steve French of the
Natural Marketing Institute. “They’re sell-
ing the notion of a full experience, with the
fundamental idea that less ismore—which
is what environmental products should be
[
about
]
in thefirst place.”
There are other, more quantifiable varia-
tions on the old “you get what you pay for”
argument. The state of California created a
task force to analyze the costs and benefits
of building green, and it found that while
greenbuildingsdidcostmoreup front—by
anaverageof$4per square foot— the long-
term savings in energy, water, andwaste, as
wellas the increasedhealthandproductivity
of theworkers inside those buildings, led to
a 20-year benefit of about $50 to $68 per
square foot. A superefficient washing ma-
chine or refrigerator will cost hundreds of
dollarsmore thanan inefficient one, but the
eventual payback in energy savings is defi-
nite.Ahybridvehicle is thousandsofdollars
more than a nonhybrid, but with gas prices
at recordhighs, it gets cheaper veryquickly.
While a pair of recycled-polyester boxer
shorts might not pay their buyer back, the
production process for the filament used
in those boxers is comparatively energy ef-
ficient, and the textilecompanypays less for
the rawmaterials needed for recycledpoly-
ester than itwould for thepetroleum-based
chemicals that go into virgin polyester,
notes Patagonia’sDumain.Meanwhile, ris-
ing oil prices are pushing the cost for those
virginmaterials up further. “At some point,
there has to be a point of intersection, and
recycledwill endup costing less than virgin
as recycling increases and volume increases
and the feed stock grows,” she says. “That’s
what needs to happen to take it out of the
specialty realm. It’ll take years, butwehave
to start somewhere.”
TRACY STATON
is an
AmericanWay
contributing editor based
inTexas.
AW
number increases by 12percent annually.
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