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The Cult of Green Consumption

Why being trendy is the worst thing that could happen to the environmental movement.


Inside a renovated movie theater near downtown Los Angeles, lamps assembled from thousands of discarded silkworm cocoons light up tables of recycled teak.

The FordBrady gallery—owned by former bicycle racers Willard Ford (Harrison’s son) and John Brady—champions the green aesthetic. But, as environmentalists, Ford and Brady know that buying a recycled teak table is less responsible than keeping the table you’ve got (or picking up a used one). Building, marketing, and shipping furniture, no matter what it’s made of, are energy- and resource-hogging activities.

Deep down, we know that really being green means buying less and making do, but we also know it’s more fun to go shopping. Green products like hybrid vehicles and the latest refillable water bottles let us have it both ways—spending money while racking up “environmental cred.” Forget Dumpster-diving—most of us would rather be spreegans than freegans.

Green has gone from a color to a movement to a style. The trouble is, styles don’t last. And we can’t let environmentalism become a fashion victim.

Some of us do a lot for the planet just by being gay: We bring the world fewer McMansions and fewer backyards than if we were straight. (No gay person has bought a riding mower—ever.) We also bring fewer babies. (I have to admit, having children was the best—and also the most environmentally destructive—thing I’ve ever done.) Add a high disposable income and exquisite sensitivity to trends, and gay consumers have done their share to make green products cool.

The problem with that is too many green products are designed to let us feel good without doing good. This spring Lincoln unveiled the MKT, a luxury sedan that nods in the direction of sustainability with—no kidding—carpet woven from banana fibers. Coke is turning surplus can tabs into messenger bags ($175) and broken bottles into earrings ($45), for sale in the Eco-Fashion section of the Coca-Cola online store. Apparently using biodegradable soap to do the dishes is only one form of green-washing.

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