This post is by our regular contributor, Kristi.
We all know that we should reduce, reuse, and recycle in an effort to help the planet. We’ve all been spoon fed about eco-friendly materials, products, and practices since infancy.
It also seems like every big name celebrity, newscaster, and civic leader touts all of the amazing benefits of “green” alternatives. As they should. Eco-friendly products can be amazing for both the planet and your wallet.
But what about the negatives? Are there any cons to eco-friendly products?
There’s no question that it can be hard to be objective about both the pros and cons when the media bias weighs heavily in one direction. Oprah tells you to buy that amazing, water-saving toilet, so you do it.
Before you go out and buy the next hip, “green” eco-friendly product, though, try to weigh both the pros and the cons for yourself before you decide to make that purchase.
Pros of eco-friendly products
First, let’s take a look at some of the pros.
1) Long-term cost savings
There’s no question that eco-friendly products come with attractive pros that draw people into deciding to “go green,” and the potential for cost-savings is usually at the top of that list of reasons.
Here’s just a few of the ways that making eco-friendly purchases can save you money.
- Eco-friendly appliances typically lower your energy and utility bills by using less water and power, eventually saving you money after the savings have paid the difference in price for the appliance itself.
- You can see immediate savings at certain grocery stores where they pay you five cents per bag if you use reusable grocery bags.
- Eco-friendly products do away with convenience sizes and packaging, making the product smaller and/or lighter, which lowers the production costs and which can reduce their up-front cost for consumers.
- Water-filtering pitchers or stand-alone systems like the Berkey (which I use and love) eliminate the need to purchase costly bottled water.
- Eco-friendly products are usually made well, come with warranties, and last longer than their cheap, non-eco-friendly counterparts.
2) Environmental Protection
Switching to eco-friendly products isn’t always about cost-savings though. There’s no question that certain eco-friendly products not only don’t save you money, but they may also actually cost you even more. At that point you have to look at the other benefits of the product, which usually revolve around environmental protections like:
- Eco-friendly products made with post-consumer recycled materials have a smaller carbon footprint, which helps keep the earth’s air and water less polluted.
- Since you do away with convenience packaging, you’re producing less waste which would have just gotten thrown into landfills
- Eco-friendly products are produced with materials which have low to no impact on the environment.
3) Health benefits
There’s still a fairly heated debate ongoing about organic versus conventionally farmed crops and why people are so afraid of chemicals in their cleaning products, makeup, and processed foods. People who use organic and eco-friendly products swear by the resulting side-effect of better health, though.
Cons of eco-friendly products
Switching to eco-friendly products isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes it really just doesn’t seem worth it. Here are a few of the cons:
1) Higher up-front costs
Even though eco-friendly options can help you to stop wasting money, it can take a long time for the actual cost-savings to materialize. This is because investing in eco-friendly products almost always costs more initially.
Yes, that green washer and dryer set you bought uses less water and less electricity, but you spent nearly a thousand dollars or more to purchase the green machines in the first place. If the cost savings don’t materialize until after the life of the machine, that eco-purchase just might not be worth it.
2) Difficulty to purchase
Sometimes it can be difficult to find the most eco-friendly option because your local corner or chain store may not carry environmentally-friendly alternatives. As a result, finding the eco-friendly alternative can take both time and money.
If you have to drive several hours or pay to ship for something to arrive from a different part of the country or the globe, at that point the carbon footprint might actually be higher on that product when it arrives by train, plane, truck, or automobile. It takes energy (which isn’t environmentally friendly) for that tidy parcel with your child’s bamboo teething toy or your recycled plastic coffee mug to arrive on your doorstep.
3) Inconvenience
Convenience packaging is called convenience packaging for a reason. When you do away with single-serving foods or single-use coffee pods, you’re doing away with the convenience. Eco-friendly products take more time to use.
For example, you can buy a reusable single-use coffee pod for your coffee system (I myself have one), but they’re a pain to clean and reuse. Nothing’s worse than spilling coffee grounds all over the floor, trying to clean out the coffee pod when you’re already stressed and rushed in the morning.
Weighing the pros and cons
As an avid organic gardener, with first-hand experience with the look and taste difference of organic produce versus that which you can find in the grocery store, I favor wholesome agricultural practices. I won’t turn my nose down to Oreos, though.
I try my best to use eco-friendly alternatives when possible because I do care deeply about the environment. I’d be lying if I said I don’t sometimes use convenience products. We don’t buy bottled water, I grow most of our vegetables, and buy bigger containers from which I’ll let create single-serving size portions into glass containers. However, sometimes I like to be able to throw a few packages of crackers or gummy snacks into my purse to keep the kids happy when we’re out and about.
It’s all about finding balance. Buy the products that you know your family will use. If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, simple switches like using a water-filtering pitcher can give you immediate savings and help buffer your budget for the year. Eco-friendly alternatives abound for every corner of the market, and making a few simple changes could save you hundreds of dollars every year.
It’s ok if you can’t afford expensive eco-friendly toilets, washers and dryers, and solar panels. Find cost-savings where you can with reusable alternatives that help you save money while reducing your carbon footprint.
Do you use eco-friendly products? What eco-products have you found to just not be worth it?
Check out some of our favorite personal finance resources:
Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
Make extra money: 15 ways to make money from your computer
Get the First Chapter Free!
Join our online community and get the first chapter of the book Student Loan Solution absolutely FREE!
One thing people don’t always realize is that there aren’t a lot of regulations as to what labels itself eco-friendly or organic. So if you’re really interested in doing this to help the planet, it’s important to do your homework.
AbigailP Absolutely! Always research before buying into what you think is an eco-friendly product. There are definitely scammers out there just waiting to pounce on consumers who think they’re doing the right thing.
Good list of the pros and cons. In general, my experience has been that the pros outweigh the cons, and moreover, as time goes on, I suspect that the cons will be negated and the pros become more pronounced.
Jaime Lila Thank you for sharing about the nail polish. I didn’t know that was available. It’s something I will definitely need to look into.
RetirementSavvy I agree with you. I feel like the pros are definitely worth it, sometimes even if they do end up costing more.