Hair Dryer Dilemma

I stay at my boyfriend's house three or four nights a week. The other day I asked him whether he'd mind if I kept a hair dryer at his place, which I would nestle inconspicuously next to my moisturizer and toothbrush. He obliged and I went shopping. I wanted to spend $30 or less on my new hair dryer. I arrived at the beauty supply store and started browsing by price. I found a few brands that I was familiar with and chose a small turbo machine that claimed to protect hair from damage with its ceramic coil and cool-shot button. Perfect. Just as I was ready to head to the register, something caught my eye: an eco hair dryer. Oh, greenwashing, you lure me every time.

You see, I recently had a shoppers revelation that I'm a sucker for the following words: organic, natural, handmade, free, eco, recycle, holistic, bio, fair, salvage, certified, efficient, healthy, co-op, solar, soy, sustainable. Anytime I need a product, food, beauty or otherwise, I look for those words and they lure me in with their promises to protect the rainforest, reduce fossil fuels or alleviate landfill usage. I realized that I'm a manufactures dream girl and I wouldn't be greenwashed anymore. So I read Cradle to Cradle to learn how to consume with knowledge and prowess. I learned that 'Cradle to Cradle' is a consumption method in which all components and products are designed to be reused or reabsorbed back into the environment through decomposition. See, roughly 90 perfect of durable products become waste almost immediately in the USA, known reversely as the 'Cradle to Grave' phenomenon. Another negative design-driven scheme is planned obsolescence – where products are intentionally designed, marketed, and manufactured to function for a minimal life cycle which forces consumers to buy, and re-buy replacement models.

I also read that there is an effort by corporations to shift the focus from fundamental consumer lifestyle changes to moderate changes in the goods purchased by the consumer (like me with my hair dryer). This gives rise to the "ethically produced" product industry. In the UK, the total sales of ethically produced products rose by 44% between 1999 and 2002 (Seyfang, Shopping for Sustainability). There has been a steady campaign by industry to tout the “green” virtues of products. The less-than-genuine efforts are referred to as “Greenwashing”. An entire industry has emerged deriving revenue by issuing certifications for “green” products.

So there I am, standing in the aisle with two boxes in my hand: a regular hair dryer and an eco-friendly one. The price discrepancy between dryers was minimal ($9) but the eco-product claimed additional perks: to reduce energy and radiation consumption, blows out clean heat and reduce drying time by 40 percent. In the end I chose the ECO-Air which cost a bit more, but hopefully the higher first-cost factors in energy savings over time, increased durability, and sustainable design features which will make for a green/sustainable/healthy long-term choice hair dryer decision.