CES 2009

I went to six press conferences today, and every one of them made a big deal about "How green is my company." Whether it was the energy efficiency of the product itself, the manufacturing of same, or how you can dispose of it in ways that are friendly to birds, fish, and other living things (though perhaps not to Chinese villagers*), they were stumbling all over each other to impress the conservation- and ecologically-minded members of the press. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but I couldn't help thinking that the industry has discovered that there may be green in being green.

Panasonic even printed its press-kit access card in nubby, recycled paper that doubles as a seed carrier (photo above).

* A few years back I read an article purporting that a lot of recycled electronic gear is shipped (back?) to China where parts are recovered—under conditions that are not at all friendly to birds, fish, and local peasants. I hope that situation has changed (and that those recycled parts aren't finding their way back into new products!).