Jack & Jill Politics

Note from Jill: this is a cross-post from Greenpeace’s Making Waves blog yesterday. More to come.

GP US Media Officer Daniel Kessler reports in the video above from the floor of CES 2009 – check it out. There’s a lot of early buzz here at CES about green gadgets. There’s even an expanded Greener Gadget Tech Zone on the exhibition floor for 2009. It seems “green is the new black” this year. Lots of people are already asking the question: how green is green? What do manufacturers mean by green? Slashdot says: Green Is In At CES, But Is It Real? CNET wonders if the ‘Green’ tag should be banished. We’re here to ask the tough questions. It’s not just about packaging – that’s the tip of the iceberg. Exponentially more dangerous for our environment and ourselves are:

• Take back and recycling – how easy and global are electronic manufacturers’ programs for recycling old products?
• Toxics elimination – how many gross, poisonous, nasty chemicals were used to make the product? Those toxins like mercury, phthaltates and PVCs end up in our water, our soil and in our kids’ bodies. This is especially a problem in places like Ghana, Pakistan and China.
• Energy efficiency – U.S. game consoles alone use as much energy as the city of San Diego. The carbon footprint of all the electronics in the world equals that of aviation. How are companies helping to fight climate change with greener, more innovative products?

These are the questions we’ll be answering over the next few days while our scrappy band is here at CES. Follow our adventures here on the blog and on twitter: @Greenpeace_Intl. Tweet us back, retweet – tell your friends and let us know what’s up.

The bottom line is that clean, green technology exists. Which gadget makers are truly green and which are greenwashing – we’ll find out. We’re on the hunt. On Friday, we’ll also be releasing the 2009 product survey “Green Electronics: the search continues”, a consumer guide to the greenest, most guilt-free products out there. Learn more here. Stay tuned!