Continuing the debate on why green products are worth the (often) higher prices:

>> Why do eco-fashions often cost more? It’s because “You Get What You Pay For,” according to Vanessa Brunner at Greener By Design. “Many eco-designers want to create pieces that are timeless; things that you will never have to throw away because of their quality and style.” So buy fewer things, but better things.

>> Are green products worth the cost? According to Jennifer at Tree Hugging Family, yes. Among her many important points is this one: “Although green products can cost more at first, many save you money in the long run. Reusable products and home efficiency products are the two best examples of this.” Sustainable Group’s ReBinder — with its reusable rings — would be an example of this.

>> Cheap conventional products may be affordable for the less well-off now — but will cost them much more later. The lack of healthy, nutritious food in poor neighborhoods means unhealthy diets, which “can lead to costly conditions like obesity and diabetes, with the treatment costs probably being paid by public programs like Medicaid or causing higher premiums for everyone,” as Ethicurean often writes about. Bought cheap Chilean salmon at the grocery store? Grist reports on a finding from the Pew Environmental Group:

Three Chilean salmon farming companies, including the two largest producers of farmed salmon, used a number of drugs not approved by the U.S. government. These chemicals include the antibiotics flumequine and oxolinic acid and the pesticide emamectin benzoate. The documents further show that the farmed salmon containing residues of unapproved chemicals were destined for the U.S. market.

The same goes for non-food products. As we well know, many of the worst polluting companies and factories are located in poor neighborhoods. Continue to give money to those companies and those factories will keep pumping out more pollution.

Image via Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

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