Do 'Green' Appliances Live Up to Their Billing?

The Wall Street Journal has a piece up wondering "Do 'Green' Appliances
Live Up to Their Billing?" They postulate that perhaps the answer is no, illustrated by that difficulties of one Jeanine Van Voorhees, who can't seem to get her energy-efficient clothes washer to get the job done. While price premiums and return on investment times vary with the individual appliance (and your local energy costs) -- and one energy-hogging appliance, like a plasma TV, can offset the savings gained by other "green" appliances in the house, combined -- this article subtly illustrates an important point: that it's not be enough to simply buy a "green" appliance and expect it to instantly save you money and save the planet. This "set it and forget it"-type environmentalism has a place -- it's important that people know that there are consumer products and appliances that tread more lightly on the planet -- but it has to be part of a larger lifestyle that involves thoughtful treatment of other ways to lighten your load on the planet (including following the directions to use your new technology; the WSJ notes that some of the problems people have with their appliances are due to user error). Read it all at the ::Wall Street Journal online via ::Gristmill