The hidden cost of cheap chemicals

A recent New York Times article, “Cleaner for the Environment, Not for the Dishes,” framed purchasing “green detergents” as a choice between using fewer chemicals versus having dirtier dishes. The article, however, ultimately misses the most important fact about purchasing “green products”: We live, work, and play in the environments we put these chemicals into, and if they are unhealthy, we will be, too. As individuals, we control most of what is in our living spaces through our purchases and daily actions. Thus, as Columbia students and citizens of planet Earth, we have an unspoken responsibility to put our money and our mouths behind purchasing green.

The article in the New York Times mentioned many reasons not to purchase green detergents—the most important being that they do not work as well as conventional items, and the other being that they are expensive. The first concern might be legitimate, but when we realize the deeper meaning of both of them, we get a better sense of our misplaced priorities. Green detergent brands such as Seventh Generation and Green Works often do not work as well because they utilize natural ingredients, but they can be handled by our wastewater treatment centers and natural filtration systems after they go down the drain. The largest detergent manufacturers utilize synthetic chemicals or known toxins, such as Triclosan, the active ingredient in Purell and an antibacterial agent found in many detergent products. These chemicals not only affect our natural systems, but, more importantly to the millions of individuals dealing with these chemicals, they also affect our health. Green purchasing, on the other hand, does not poison us, our homes, or the free goods we enjoy every day: clean air, clean water, and uncontaminated food. These goods are a noted externality in current economic models—one of the factors that leads to chemical products being cheap.

Another hidden cost of cheap chemicals is the suffering inflicted on low-income communities and communities of color. Due to the “Not in My Backyard” practice of politically empowered, educated, and upper-class individuals, unwanted chemical factories are pushed into the backyards of low-income areas with low property values, leading to higher rates of cancer and other maladies. The hidden costs of chemicals in our products are all around us—some of which we see, but most of which we don’t.

On Columbia’s campus, there is action being taken by student groups to address the current lack of green purchasing, but not enough by the largest campus organization that deals with purchasing—the Office of Procurement Services. Students for Environmental and Economic Justice has been working on a “purchasing code of conduct” over the past year, drawing from other purchasing codes established at peer universities such as Stanford, the University of Michigan, and Oberlin College to create socially and environmentally responsible guidelines for University purchasing. Its efforts, though, have faced bureaucratic gridlock. This gridlock, in conjunction with staffing changes in the Office of Procurement Services, has prevented the necessary changes from being made. SEEJ also states that “decentralized purchasing largely happens from the various academic departments as well,” which delegate responsibility to departmental chairs. SEEJ hopes that the Office of Procurement Services will change its own policies and then reach out to these offices. In addition to University-wide changes, environmental student groups such as the Columbia University EcoReps’ Green Your Group program and GreenBorough House practice what they preach, and they have made green purchasing part of their missions. Resources such as Goodguide.com and information sheets from the Environmental Working Group have helped them find more information about what is actually in their products.

While environmental responsibility has grown on campus, purchasing is an area of weakness. This is partially due to old purchasing habits dying hard and partly due to a lack of education on the topic, but it is time for a change. For better health, better living spaces, uncontaminated food supplies, and clean water, we need to establish personal and institutional leadership on green purchasing and make these changes as soon as possible.

The author is a Columbia College junior majoring in environmental science and history. He is a former EcoRep and Green Umbrella coordinator and a GreenBorough House resident.