Oooh, two snarks in one!

[snousle]

Two of my favorite subjects - the "greenwashing" of consumer products, and the cognitive bias known as the "remedy effect", have come together in one very amusing article:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201005/the-paradoxical-effects-doing-good

Bottom line: Buying environmentally friendly products makes you evil. Hah!

[I also hasten to point out that there is no good reason to believe that "organic yoghurt" is more eco-friendly than "Kraft macaroni and cheese". Assuming that the latter has little or nothing in it that is actually derived from cows, its synthetic orange flavor and high energy density could well make it the "greener" choice. Not that you'd want to sacrifice your own health for that of the planet, or anything like that!]

Comments

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

Hm. I recycled 6 trash bags of aluminum cans the other day, but I can't think of anything evil I did afterward. I spent the money on kitchen supplies and food....

[snousle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but if your recycling depot was anything like ours, there was lots of eye candy. You have to add vice points for lust, since such a base ulterior motive cancels out the virtues of recycling. ;-)

[broduke2000.livejournal.com]

Up here on the river, I met a biker who worked at one of our recycling centers. After I got to know him, I even got to put him in some Club Mud videos ... muddy, but non-sexual, since he was straight.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

Nope. There was one guy with a moustache, but not really lust-worthy. This is Glendale, not Ukiah after all... ;) Put it this way - it's not someplace I'd go expecting to see some hairy burly eyecandy, so even if there were to be some there - it would be totally unexpected and thus not evil. *grin*