Going Green: Pros and Cons
20. Jan, 2010 
9 Comments
My fiancé got me this really sweet “tree pad” (pictured) as a little birthday gift last week, and while some may argue it’s mere production is a paradox in and of itself, yesterday at work it became the topic of progressive conversation. Conversation in the way of helping my “green” company, go even greener. So I randomly started thinking about the time four years and four jobs ago when I tried getting the company I worked for to “go green”. I was four years younger and inspired by the then recent release of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. My boss seemed all for it. “Show me how it makes sense financially.” Well I don’t think I was determined enough to go the extra mile, ’cause at best my efforts ended shortly thereafter when I couldn’t justify paying for the local recycling service to collect weekly. This trip down memory lane lead to a random google search today: going green pros and cons.
I’m honestly not surprised to find the first and only article that I click on to really get on my nerves. Now, I’m not trying to start any beef here (cause I’m a vegetarian but I ain’t ******* scared of him – okay sorry I had to), but newsflash Sevastian Winters! Basically, your blog post’s list of “cons” can be summed up by the following:
1) We’ll all lose our jobs! (It costs too much money)
2) It takes too much time! (It costs too much money)
3) We’ll all lose our jobs and go broke! (It costs too much money)
I’m not trying to be a jerk, but for the record, I didn’t really read anything other than the cons section so if there’s anything good in the pros, feel free to leave a comment but here are my words to you:
1) My cousin has your first name!
2) It DOESN’T cost too much MONEY to go GREEN.
3) Money is the reason you’re looking at “going green” all wrong.
“Going green” is not just some marketing catch phrase or liberal trend. I remember my 6th grade science teacher talking about it and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to argue with Mrs. DeCarlo. Now I skimmed a few other posts and you’re a good writer. Better than I! For this reason, I befriend you and kindly encourage you to stay tuned to the Pizza Fusion blog this and next week. We plan on highlighting some key environmental AND financial benefits to businesses and consumers for “going green”, along with reasons WHY Pizza Fusion has chosen some of the methods they have (hybrid cars, green web hosting, etc).
Thanks for reading and have a green day! 
![Pizza Fusion Rockin In Jeddah, S.A. [video]](http://blog.pizzafusion.com/wp-content/themes/headlines/thumb.php?src=http://blog.pizzafusion.com/wp-content/uploads/jeddah.png&h=48&w=48&zc=1&q=90){kind=small}
Great piece Alex! Thanks!
From a marketing standpoint, "going green" had a huge backlash for many companies. It opened the doors for critics and competitors to discredit companies. It was also often quite expensive.
If you are looking for a green seo / Internet marketing guy, I am probably not the one for you. I love to print out email and blog posts just so I can waste another tree. I love eating spotted owl sandwiches while I go dolphin hunting on my way to dump some waste oil out in the ocean, where it came from.
I would say more, but I need to go put more gas in my cars. I left them running overnight and they are probably getting low by now.
Oh, thanks, but I am still going to cut down some trees … just for fun!
You are right. Companies often do it for the wrong reasons, and they have created a negative stigma for those who do things for the right reasons. The term "going green" got some pretty bad (and often undue) bashing.
OK, now I am off to rip up some land and do stuff to drive tree huggers crazy.
LOL, hey Mark!
The fact is, those companies who "felt the backlash" should have never gone green in the first place because they were doing it for the wrong reasons. The problem business people have is they are always looking to get something out of every move they make. 'Going green' is not about getting anything, but about giving back to the planet that we use and abuse on a daily basis.
Thanks for commenting though. Tell your cars I said what's up!
Well, You maybe should have read the whole article instead of the gist then…because this just makes you look uninformed… and the reality is that I am in favor of attempts to “go green”.
Here are the Pros I listed:
“• Learning to use our natural resources with respect to how finite they are will serve future generations and prolong the amount of time that the earth will continue to sustain life. No matter how you view the world’s resources, the one thing everyone can agree on is that natural resources do not exist in limitless supplies.
• Creating new environmentally friendly products and refitting the world with such items will create jobs. Jobs in new technology sectors have traditionally been high paying. Going green is good for workers, and therefore good for the economy.
• Necessity is the mother of invention. When laws limit people, human ingenuity finds its foothold and invention takes the place of convention. With the introduction of new laws that force companies to find green alternatives come up with inventive plans that increase productivity, quality, and in some cases even revolutionize the way we do things.”
I went on to say….”In the long term, going green is a Utopian ideal to which we must aspire if life is to continue on this planet. However in doing so we must also leave as small a footprint on humanity as we are able. Incentives for invention are worthwhile. Penalties for overindulgence are worthwhile. It is more important that society train itself in the mindset of good stewardship than it is that the electric car obliterate the need for oil inside of 10 years. The truth of consummation is that humans will always consume natural resources. We do so at a lower rate per capita today than we did in the 1970s and that trend is continuing. It is better that the trend continue than that humans ever find a single solution that allows us to indulge our whims without a requirement of stewardship. May you enjoy a rainbow of environmental possibilities, the color green among them.”
If you disagree, that’s fine, but don’t disagree with me when you’ve only read 1/3 of the fricken article! For those who haven’t seen it, the article is HERE!
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2005320/the_pros_and_cons_of_the_united_states.html?cat=47
Dude, if you are going to try to make a somewhat reasoned argument for going green, here are some tips:
1) learn to link properly
2) actually READ the article you’re trashing
3) make your counter-arguments based on what the author actually wrote
4) stop playing at being environmentally friendly by using recycled paper pads. Cutting down on the unnecessary crap we use is the way towards environmental sustainability. It takes as much manufacturing space and oil to make recycled paper as it does to make it from virgin trees.
5) “Going green” is NOT about “giving back to the planet”. It’s about not taking from it in the first place.
You have a long way to go before you have a clue.
Going green is a value and a way of life which creates and doesn’t destroy the future.