There have been some reasons to be ashamed of being German - but this one surely isn't one of them! According to a recent survey 95% of Germany's population claims to make an effort to behave eco-friendly in everyday life. I couldn't be more proud of my fellow countryman and women. However, the German infotainment magazine Galileo thought it was about time to show that eco-friendly behavior isn't always as good for the environment as it seems.
Below you can find a list of the most common assumptions regarding eco-friendly behavior and what they truly mean for the environment - I am sure most of it will apply to you and your country as well!
1. Products with an organic seal are always of good quality and healthy. In theory, any store can have their own seal of quality. To be sure the products you buy are truly organic it is recommendable to buy products labeled with a well-established organic seal, such as the hexagonal seal of the European Union or the USDA organic seal of the United States Department of Agriculture. However, even though those products are usually free of pesticides there is no guarantee that they are always 100% free of other harmful substances as well.
2. Buying regional products is always good for the environment. Buying regional products is better than buying the ones imported from other countries because the transportation by plane, ship or truck pollutes the air with lots of CO2. However, sometimes an apple you buy locally might be responsible for the same amount of CO2 as an imported apple. The reason for this is apples are seasonal fruits. In Germany, for example, the season for apples is autumn so if you buy a German apple in May it means it had been stored and cooled for a couple of months. Keeping the apple fresh in the warehouse produces as much CO2 as if the apple would have been imported from New Zealand. In conclusion, if you want to protect the environment you have to buy regionally as well as seasonally!
3. Energy-saving light bulbs are eco-friendly in every way. We have to reduce our carbon footprint and in order to do so we have to reduce our use of conventional energy. Energy-saving light bulbs are one way of doing it. However, those light bulbs harm the environment - and that is if they are discarded incorrectly! Energy-saving light bulbs contain mercury and other toxic substances and therefore don't belong in the household garbage can (the same applies to batteries). Nevertheless, in Germany, for example, 70 million light bulbs a year are discarded incorrectly and harm the environment with their toxic substances. Another aspect is to buy only certified light bulbs (e.g. Philips); they are a bit more expensive but they save more energy than the cheap ones.
4. Recycling means old packaging is used to get new raw materials. The Germans have sorted their waste exemplary already for 17 years! The question is - is it really useful? Separating packaging waste from residual waste is subject to heated discussion. The recycling of packaging in order to make new packaging is very complex and costly, so most of it gets burnt in the end. Therefore, in some regions, such as Munich, the packaging waste doesn't get separated from the residual waste. Munich owns one of Germany's most modern waste incineration plants. All household waste (including packaging) is burnt in one big oven - and generates heat and electricity for 200.000 households. The remaining slag generated as a result of the burning is then used in construction work. Only glass and paper are being separated before the combustion, because 83% of the recycled paper becomes new paper and 82% of the recycled glass becomes new glass - which is really useful and eco-friendly.
5. Buying green electricity means it comes from renewable energy resources. With regards to Europe, this assumption is wrong. The energy supply system in Europe is transnational which means, for example in the case of Germany, that energy comes from different resources and from different countries. Germany's electricity is mainly generated in coal-fired power plants, so if a supplier offers green electricity he needs to buy, for example, wind-generated energy from Scandinavia. If all the wind energy is used, Scandinavia needs to buy more energy and gets it, for example, from a French nuclear power plant. In conclusion, green electricity in Europe is still a mix of energy from renewable energy resources as well as coal and nuclear power plants. So, if you want to buy green electricity look out for certified suppliers who still offer the same mix of energy but use part of their revenues to build more renewable energy resources.
6. Driving is more eco-friendly if you use biodiesel. Many people in Germany switched from the conventional fossil fuels to biodiesel because it claims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the production of biodiesel seems in many ways as harmful as using the fossil fuels. The most disturbing factor in the production of biodiesel is that the demand for the plant feedstock is so high that huge areas are cleared for its cultivation leading to deforestation and loss in biodiversity. In some parts the plants used to produce biodiesel even replace the plants that people need for eating which results in a worldwide increase in basic food prices - and the people who suffer in the end are the indigenous people and people from poor countries. Is this really worth it? - I'm sure the intentions of those who came up with biodiesel were good, but if you want to do something for the environment leave your car at home until there is a better alternative with less drastic externalities!
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