HGTV gets a taste of the shopping network
I just turned on the TV, which was left on HGTV (the Canadian version), and an American show called “I Want That!” was on. I’m dismayed. Consumer culture and cheesy shopping network style aside, some of the “nifty” new products it was showcasing are troubling.
1) She started off saying, you know what always bugs me… bringing in heavy shopping bags that pinch your fingers. (I thought she was going to say the bags snap, but anyway.) But, voila! problem solved with this new grab-and-go plastic carrying thing. *Plastic.* I muttered to myself, how about a *reusable* cloth bag???
2) Freezer-safe plastic containers for food that have cold pack gel built in, so you just freeze it til it hardens, stuff your leftovers in there and away you go. Keeps salsa cool on a hot day. Ok I have a question about this… what happens when it melts? What about… is it safe? I’ve always considered that stuff toxic.
3) A gigantic swimming pool toy called the Nuclear Globe. Kids wiggle in one of the two openings, and then do the hamster thing through the pool. I looked at it and thought, isn’t that kind of dangerous? It floats, and I guess water doesn’t get in there, but they could get a limb somehow stuck/accidentally through the hole and the ball turns and they could drown? I don’t know, it just looked dangerous. Even if it isn’t, it’s made with PVC:
PVC (Polyvinyl chloride), a.k.a Vinyl (recycling # 3)
PVC is a harmful plastic that emits toxic chemicals from manufacturing to disposal. PVC is used to make construction materials (such as pipes, flooring, and wiring), and a range of consumer products (plastic bottles and containers, baby bottles, toys, records and clothes). The manufacture of PVC involves the use and emission of dioxin, but more importantly for the health of humans, PVC products can leach toxic additives, like phthalates, throughout their use. Phthalates are added to PVC products to make them softer and more flexible, but these chemicals are known to disrupt hormones, leading to birth defects of male reproductive organs.
Phthalates are a group of man-made chemicals that are widely used as plasticizing additives in a broad range of consumer products, including cosmetic and personal care products, PVC consumer products and construction materials. These chemicals are also used in synthetic fragrances to extend the scents’ staying power. Phthalates are relatively persistent in the environment and have been found in drinking water, soil, household dust, wildlife, fatty foods (meat and dairy products) and in the blood and breast milk of people. Scientific research has shown that phthalates disrupt hormones, and can cause birth defects of male reproductive organs.
From the glossary at Toxic Nation.
Dioxin is highly toxic. I can’t remember in exactly what book or website I was just reading about it, but I do recommend looking into it.
Back to the show, though. I really wish they had some kind of comments area on HGTV.com so I could say something to them about environmental responsibility. They’re promoting products that are not made sustainably. As for consumerism, I’m told that people, even on low income, will buy tech gadgets (TVs, entertainment systems, gaming consoles, etc.) before food. They put unnecessary things ahead of the fundamentals of life. It’s no wonder Canadians have $38 billion of debt (if I remember that figure correctly). We buy, buy, buy and then throw these things out when the new one comes along. What has this society come to?
