Ziploc "D"evolve

Feel free to click on the title to this blogpost to catch a quick glimpse of the general theme I'm going to be following--
Go ahead...I'll wait....

Ok, so, you may notice that it has nothing to DO with the title "Ziploc 'D'evolve", and you may be wondering why that is. That answer, my faithful followers, is that Ziploc is being dumb and I feel the need to tell you all about it.

You see, yesterday, while I was receiving my daily regimen of Antiques Roadshow, Larry King Live, AC360....., up through NightLine, I saw a commercial repeating over and over and over again that I just couldn't shake. It was for the new Ziploc Evolve bags. And ultralight bag that still keeps things ultra fresh. But what makes the bag really special is that it uses 25% less plastic and was produced with wind energy. That's what the commercial is all about...The graphic design on the commercial is pretty cool, admittedly...But it's also somewhat cliche, by now. Anyways, what Ziploc is trying desperately to do is capture on the whole "Green" movement, but they are making the most rookie mistake that they could make--They're sucking.

Consumers want stuff. Lots of stuff. And we'll pay more for something if it has extra gizmos. It's fairly easy to convince a consumer that something is worth an extra dollar or so. So sure, Ziploc is counting on people wanting to save the environment (a futile cause when you're considering that they're purchasing double-ply sheets of premium never-degrade-polystyrene). But here is the problem--The bags are more expensive and they suck. Nobody wants to pay extra for a "light bag" that holds less stuff!
--It should be noted that there is also an asterisk next to the "wind energy" thing that tells us that it's made with a mixture of wind energy and traditional energy sources. First: duh. Second: get out of my face you useless marketing hag.--

Has it not been proven that going green doesn't have to be a sacrifice?! Has it not been proven that going green will go NOWHERE if it IS a sacrifice!?

One example might be the Green Roofs that people have taken to installing, worldwide. These green roofs (pictured here atop the Chicago city hall) are absurdly expensive. They put excessive strain on the building...Overall they are just crazy. BUT, when you look at these extra expenses, you begin to see that it is not a sacrifice at all. Green roofs can have lifespans of over 200% of normal roofs(that could be 50 years without intensive maintenance!). Green roofs have been known to save from 20-80% on heating and cooling bills because of their insulatory factor. Green roofs are obviously great for the environment (in so many ways that I wont bother to mention here). And there is literally almost no maintenance (watering and green-thumb-hubbub is all taken care of via rain and the water management systems in place!) And here's the best part: That extra couple thousand dollars that one spends on a green roof is recouped in the span of only a very few years. This is a perfect example of something that is an absurdly larger step towards helping the environment than buying Ultra-crap Ziploc bags. And while there is still an increased cost, the cost is for functionality and luxury, as opposed to a cost relegated to "well...it helps the environment..."

Now, I wont say that Ziploc is the first to make this mistake, obviously. In fact, if it were the first, I probably would be more forgiving or, more likely, wouldn't have noticed at all. But, really....who do they think they are?

I'm sure there are a million other examples of green products that are entirely worth the extra cost--Why not share them?
I have this big ol' comments section and nobody leaves me anything. I'm not sure if I'm just not interesting, or nobody is interested. Either way, maybe now I'll at least get a couple...who knows.

Alright, that's it for me, today. Have a good day, everybody!!!