Re: [greenyes] an idea... "ECR"

[Jym Dyer <jym@no.address>]

> Your email triggered an idea... the concept of "ECR" (extended
> consumer responsibility) to go along with "EPR" (extended
> producer responsibility) ... the bottom line for both being
> the "extension" of our thoughts, actions and responsibilities
> so that the end-of-life management of our personal/business
> discards is factored into our purchasing behavior.

=v= Great in theory, but recent history indicates that this
concept (or a concept fuzzily similar to it) is too easily
abused.

=v= Look at how plastics recycling got popular in the early
1990s:  to overcome consumer resistance, the industry simply
put "chasing arrows" on everything, recyclable or not, and set 
up sham recycling centers.  Consumers responded, trying to do
the right thing, largely unaware they were participating in a
fraud.  Whose "responsibility" needs to be extended here?

=v= For years, I've been bending over backwards trying to shop
responsibly.  My observation has been that the products most
truly ecologically responsible lose out to those that might
be a little cheaper or have irresponsible glitzier packaging,
which in turn lose out to whatever's got the lowest price tag.

=v= Responsible companies go out of business in our current race
to the bottom, and customers like me get less and less choice.
Often, after an extended search, I still find myself presented
with a lousy choice between different shoddy products made in
China, similarly overpackaged in unrecyclable garbage.  How to
extend my "responsibility" for what is a bad choice in the first
place?

=v= Until we turn around this globalized _laissez-faire_ race
to the bottom, this is the wrong place to focus attention.
    <_Jym_>