Green and White

Some ski resorts have been making a name for themselves by touting their “green” credentials. Of course, that helps them obtain another form of “green”–cash.

One such company is the Aspen Ski Co. Since I bought some lift tickets from them last year, they sent me a 14-watt CFL, or compact fluorescent lamp. You know, the kind of light that Congress has pretty much declared that we will all use, like it or not.

There’s nothing terribly unusual about the bulb, of course. But it’s got several additional layers of cardboard and paper around it (save the trees, anyone?) To begin with, there’ the standard-issue cardboard box that the bulb comes in. Then there’s an outer wrap with images from the Aspen/Snowmass region on it. OK. A pleasant touch, but the scenes are obscured by the words “save” and “snow” that alternately appear on each panel.

These two layers of packaging are then placed inside another box with a flip-top lid–think “mini-coffin,” which says “printed in China.” (How much of a “carbon footprint” was created to print this box in China–perhaps burning coal in an electricity plant with marginal pollution-control technology–and then ship it back to the United States?)

The top side of the lid has an inspirational (scolding?) quote about the interdependence of life, while the underside promises financial and environmental benefits of CFLs. Finally, there’s a mini-brochure touting the SkiCo’s environmental record: snowcats run on biodiesel fuel, they purchase “renewable wind power credits” (perhaps from the same company that lets Al Gore feel at peace touting the green lifestyle while using more electricity in a month than most Americans live in a year), etc.

Can you tell I’m a bit annoyed? Yep. Sure, I love snow. And I also think that a company ought to be free to do what it wants to do to attract customers. I would certainly prefer that to having politicians in Congress (or worse yet, unelected bureaucrats) making decisions for all of us. Obviously, ski industry leaders think that polishing their green credentials is good marketing–that being green can bring in the green.

Perhaps. On the other hand, I have my fears that any large-scale political response to observed changes in climate–a “cap and trade” system, for example–will enrich a few, politicize life even more, and harm the overall economy.