Carbon-neutral

Unethical Packaging, and Silly Too: Domino’s “Carbon Free” Sugar For Suckers

/ Jack Marshall / 12 Comments

You would think that the sugar people, Domino, would know this about their product: sugar contains carbon. Sucrose, the technical name for table sugar,  has the chemical formula C12H22O11. That C stands for “carbon.” Take the carbon out of sugar, and you pretty much have water.

And yet here is Domino advertising certified carbon-free sugar, which is like bias-free MSNBC or greed-free Wall Street. It’s impossible. But some people will fall for anything, especially if it sounds “green.”

I know—what they mean is that growing the sugar doesn’t emit carbon into the atmosphere, but that doesn’t make the sugar itself “carbon-free,” I don’t squirt blood into the atmosphere, but I’m not “blood-free.”  Maybe this is an election year ploy, and Domino has concluded that since the public is hearing so much dishonest nonsense around the clock, they can slip this one by. Whatever their excuse, we should resent being treated like idiots.

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Pointer: Volokh

Source: WUWT

Graphic: Irregular Times

 

The Unethical Consequences of Ethical Coffee

/ Jack Marshall / 2 Comments

"Mmmmmmm! Smells ethical!"

When ethical conduct becomes too complicated, confusing, or controversial, the vast majority of people will shrug and give up, leaving the conduct to be embraced by fanatics who can be relied upon to argue among themselves about who is really being ethical.   Welcome to the world of so-called ethical coffee, where adherents must choose between a dizzying number of certifications and categories to ensure that their coffee purchases support ethical practices and objectives.

“Shouldn’t the dollars you spend support the values you believe in?,” chirps the home page of EthicalCoffee.com. “Fortunately, when it comes to the morning cup of coffee so many of us love, it’s easier to put your money where your conscience is than with any other commodity. (Just try to find a gas station that can certify that the gasoline you’re putting in your tank isn’t linked to environmental disasters or labor abuses halfway around the world.) With coffee, you can pay a little more and know the grower is getting a minimum price or be sure you’re helping preserve winter habitat for some of the same songbirds that will show up next summer in your back yard.”

Hey, sounds great! Love those song birds! Then comes the “but’… Continue reading →