She's Right on the Environment

The fifth and final post in this week’s series focuses on the fifth survey question: What is the “She’s Right” view on the environment?

I wish that I had used some different answers on this one, like global warming and fossil fuel type answers. Instead, I focused on the consumer power that we have to encourage businesses to be more environmentally friendly.

The answer choices were: She hates clean air and clean water; She opposes all environmental regulation; She uses all natural soaps and detergents; She buys organic as often as possible; She drives a hybrid car; She thinks that government should play a very limited role in regulation; She believes that people will choose to patronize businesses that share their values, making it cost effective for businesses to be more environmentally friendly.

One person humorously said that I hate clean air and clean water. Not true.

No one, not even that joker, said that I oppose all environmental regulation. Those smart She’s Right readers were correct. I am not quite fully in the Libertarian camp on this one. (Okay, I guess I am according to this coment left by Hardy Machia.) I still think the government should play a very limited role in regulation (as 5 people correctly said).

Five people said that I buy organic as often as possible and five said that I use all natural soaps and detergents. Guilty as charged. I do not so much do this for the environment as I do it for my own health, but it really is all connected. For example, the Seventh Generation laundry detergent I use helps the lake because it contains no phosphates. It also helps conserve petroleum (they claim on the label) because it is vegetable based. So even though I use it for health reasons, I am helping the environment, too. By the same token, all of the precautions I take to keep chemical-free won’t help me much if the earth is polluted.

Speaking of conserving petroleum, two people said I drive a hybrid car. I wish! I would jump at the chance to save on gas, but I have never owned a new or remotely new car in my life. No, I drive a 1998 mini-van with power-nothing and my husband drives a 1992 Honda Accord that his mom gave us.

Anyway, back to saving the environment. Ideally the government should not be forcing environmental regulation. We as consumers have the power to make companies more environmentally friendly. It’s all about putting your money where your mouth is.

Take my laundry soap. I pay $5.99 for a bottle half the size of a $2.99 bottle of Arm and Hammer laundry soap, but it is important to me to have a natural product. (The same goes for dish soap, dishwasher detergent, shampoo, soap, make-up, etc.) If this is important to me, it is my responsibility to reflect that with my personal choices.

I believe that people will choose to patronize businesses that share their values, making it cost effective for businesses to be more environmentally friendly (as 6 people correctly answered). You can see this happening already. At Hannaford, my grocery store of choice, they now carry their own store brand of natural and organic products, from soy milk to salsa. It is a lot less expensive than the specialty companies’ products, allowing me to purchase more organic products. This did not happen because the government forced them to carry organic products. It happened because more and more people are buying organic and they wanted to capture some of that market.

Another example is Wal-Mart’s environmental plan released last fall. They know that people today care about responsible environmental stewardship and are willing to take their dollars to companies that share that concern. It makes good business sense to try and attract those buyers by becoming more environmentally friendly.

It is not necessary to relegate the responsibility and authority to the government to make those decisions. That gives the government power it should not have. The people have the power to make businesses be more environmentally friendly because we control the money that keeps them in business.