Give Greener with Method
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 10.29.07
Aye or nay on this gift idea, folks? Method is giving away a sassy Danny Seo-designed reusable tote with every purchase of its Home for the Holidays kit ($40) and The Party Prep kit ($20), both of which include an assortment of Method's cleaning and fragrance products you can tempt your not-so-green friends with.
The bags, which fold into zippered pouches (included), are made from 100 percent polyester—hence our ambivalence; we'd preferred to have seen recycled PET or a sustainable fiber like organic cotton and hemp—in factories in China Method assures us meet strict guidelines for the safety of its workers, fair wages, and environmental practices. Do we want our bags to be more well-traveled than us? We're just glad that the Anya Hindmarch insanity is over. ::Method
Full disclosure: Method was a TreeHugger advertiser as of press time.
This just goes to show that, though environmental concern is in the limelight, people still don't get it! The all mighty dollar still out weighs healthy living.
Though every little bit/push helps, the big thing that needs to change most is the throwaway, superficial, consumer driven culture that has infected the world. We don't have to live in yurts, we just have to adjust our priorities!
I gotta say.. we got one of these in our office, and I thought it was a joke. It offgassed more than anything I've ever received. Granted, METHOD is a great company, and they've done a lot on combining green awareness and good design, but they've had a few mistakes in the past as well...and this might be one of them.
Aside from the smell, the design, logo, and ergonomics don't really work for me.
After a few days of this on the clothesline, it stopped smelling like a shower curtain - and my wife, actually LOVES it. Me... I'd like a good ol' canvas style bag (preferably HEMP) much better.
While most of Method's products are mostly natural, which they admit is nothing new, I think the company could do much better. Their packaging could be less and made from recycled plastic, they could offer refills and they could make their hard goods, like the o-mop from recycled materials. I think this company made a good name for themselves and now are getting lazy. It seems in the face of expanding market presence, they've forgotten about the concerns of their core base of customers, and their original vision. They have let a lot of opportunities to be more sustainable pass them by, and no doubt they are very well aware of it - they just don't care.