Colin Beavan

ABC, Brought to You by Honda, Says Don't Buy Stuff

By Scott Whitlock | April 18, 2008 - 13:03 ET

Left wing environmentalist Sam Champion continued to push his eco-agenda on Friday's edition of "Good Morning America." The liberal weatherman enlisted the help of IdealBite.com, a web page devoted to "green living." One of the site's founders, Heather Stephenson, lectured a family interested in going green about the evils of buying new toys for their children. She explained, "'Cause the best thing that you can do for the environment, actually, is not buy more stuff."

The goal was to help the couple "get their green on." And while some of the suggestions were sensible, others sounded rather socialist. After encouraging a neighborhood "toy swap" as an alternative to new toys, the other founder of Ideal Bite, Jennifer Boulden, touted old jewelry. "And that's the best thing you do, in terms of eco, is not have to buy new. People don't think about the fact that when they're wearing new jewelry, it is from the Earth. It has to be mined," she hectored. Isn't this more than a little hypocritical on the part of GMA? After the segment ended, commercials appeared advertising a new Disney movie, Amtrak, the newest cars from Hyundai and Honda. Wouldn't it be best to watch an old Disney movie and not encourage the making of new ones? Shouldn't eco-Americans simply buy used cars and not patronize Honda and Hyundai?

Bringing You More Glam Ways to Like, Save the Planet

By Genevieve Ebel | March 13, 2008 - 15:03 ET

In Spring of 2007, magazines such as Vanity Fair and Elle offered readers ways to "green" their lives and help the environment. Now, the April issue of Glamour brings readers another "57 Little Ways to Save the Planet."

Announcing "Mother Earth needs our help," the article begins by accusing "we use too much fuel (which causes pollution), chop down too many trees, conserve too little water; toss too much waste into landfills."

Glamour tells readers it has consulted its "panel of experts" and come up with the best small ways to fight "these major problems." Of course, Glamour's "panel of experts" is comprised mostly of members of radical left-wing environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.