Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Green-friendly? Eco-friendly?

The L.A. Times today had a story about JetBlue Airlines charging $7 for pillows and blankets. In the story the airline tried to put a good spin on the new fee. "According to the airline, the plush pillow is made from a fabric that 'blocks all micro-toxins larger than one micron in size," such as dust mites, mold spores, pollen and pet dander."

That sounded pretty good to me, especially after reading a recent Washington Post article about how germ-infested and dirty the world is. That article said that mattresses double in weight after 10 years because of dander. UGH!

The "blocks all toxins larger than one micron in size" appears to have been lifted directly from CleanRest's website. CleanRest is a company specializing in ultra-healthy linens (like sheets and pillow cases and stuff). From CleanRest's site: "MicronOne™ fabric technology blocks all micro-toxins larger than one micron in size, like dust mites and their waste, mold spore, pollen, pet dander and even bed bugs."

So that sounds pretty great. Keep out the dirty organisms that are trying to co-habitate with me. But then I notice that the CleanRest MicronOne tech is made of 100 percent polyester. That's not cool. That's not very green-friendly, even though JetBlue's rep would have you believe that it is.

According to the L.A. Times: "This state-of-the-art, high-quality take-home kit is an eco-conscious, health-conscious and customer-conscious decision," said Brett Muney, general manager of product development at JetBlue, which is based in Forest Hills, N.Y.

So what am I to do? Buy organic cotton linens? A Google search brings up tons of hawkers, but combining "eco-friendly bed linens" with "antimicrobial" points to Bamboo sheets? But nothing with organic cotton.

Checking out pristineplanet.com didn't help either. I could find sheets that were organic, Fair Trade and sustainable or swap out Made in the U.S.A. for Fair Trade, but not antimicrobial.

Choices suck.

1 comment:

clrobins42 said...

There's also the theory that all this anti-microbial, anti-bacterial stuff is contributing to weakening our immune systems and creating super bugs, so you can't win for losing.