Over the past few years, American consumers have seen an explosion of "green" products and environmentally friendly products hit the shelves of their grocery stores and even the lots of many car dealerships. As the threat of global warming becomes more and more real, many people feel like they need to take action and do something about it. In order to help people achieve this, companies are releasing environmentally friendly products. However, many of these products are not much "greener" than their standard counterparts; so one is left with the question of whether or not the product will actually play a role in helping the environment, or if companies are using "green" simply as a label so they can jack up prices on products that are no different than the standard products.

One example of this is the new 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. The Hybrid Tahoe claims 50% better gas mileage than the non-hybrid version but the Hybrid still only gets about 20 miles per gallon; less than half of what a Toyota Prius gets. Chevrolet’s own website gives EPA estimates for gas mileage on their vehicles and it gets no where near 50% better gas mileage. The standard Tahoe with a V8 engine and 4 wheel drive gets 14 and 19 mpg city and highway, respectively, while the Hybrid Tahoe also with a V8 engine, 4 wheel drive, and an added electric component to the engine, gets 20 and 20 mpg city and highway, respectively. Chevy has released a Hybrid vehicle that, on the highway, will get 1 mpg better gas mileage than the standard Tahoe. Wow! As Chevy would say "that’s one hardworking hybrid."

Another perfect example is Nestle Water’s new "Eco-Shape" water bottles. The bottles are made with 30% less plastic than other plastic bottles of the same capacity and the bottles are made entirely of 100% recyclable materials. That’s great but how many of these bottles are actually going to be recycled? Most people are going to finish a bottle and throw it in a trash can so it can make its way to a landfill and become no different than any other plastic bottle that gets thrown away. Interestingly, when 18-wheelers transport products they have to meet a certain weight and since the new bottles are lighter, Nestle can ship more at one time bringing in tons of extra money to the company. Is Nestle actually trying to make a significant contribution to helping the environment or is their new "Eco-Shape" water bottle just a way for them to make a lot more money with a little less plastic?