Can new electronics ever be green?

America’s Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has revealed that 89% of US consumers will consider energy efficiency as a factor when choosing their next TV.

The industry group, which represents US-based computer and gadget makers, also found in their survey that less than half of Americans are able to make sense of environmental claims made by electronics manufacturers.

CEA’s vice president of environmental affairs, Parker Brugge, said consumers are confused about what ‘green’ means.

Aside from having a cool name, Parker Brugge is making an important point.

Corporate greenwash - gimmicks such as ‘eco’-petrol-cars and ‘green’ TVs have left the general public befuddled about what being environmentally friendly really means.

And this exactly where corporates want the general public to be.

Corporations aren’t exactly going to tell consumers the truth: that buying a new TV, computer, or only-to-be-used-once-then-forgotten-about eco-gadget is, in most cases, the least green option of all.

Take TVs, for example. LCD TVs are supposed to be greener than traditional box style televisions because they consumer less electricity.

However, University of California scientist Michael Prather recently discovered that Nitrogen Trifluoride, the gas used in the production of flat screen displays, is over 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide in causing global warming.

Worldwide demand for HDTVs has blasted emission levels of this noxious gas sky high.

You’ll never read that on the box of a new ‘green’ LCD TV or computer monitor.

Far more green, then, to have your old TV repaired or replace it with a second hand model than to fall for the eco-friendly greenwash in your local electronics store.

Even better - and greenest of all - is to quit watching TV altogether. You’ll be amazed at the newly found time you never knew you had.

Please share your thoughts on this article in the comments section below, or in the Fair Home Forums.