Super Eco

Photo credit: mujitra (´･ω･), flickr

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is winding down, but there's still plenty of time to support the cause—that is, if you consider buying more pink stuff to be a productive use of your time and hard-earned cash. At first blush, purchasing pink products that donate part of their proceeds to breast cancer research and screenings sounds like a rosy prospect. We can spy two flies in the ointment: Are these items that are pink also sustainably, non-toxically green? And is buying more stuff really the best way to raise awareness and support better breast health?

What's ironic about the whole idea of pink products is that so many of them contain chemicals that are not only harmful to the environment but are linked to cancer. Pink ribbon merchandise is not immune from environmentally unfriendly and physically hazardous ingredients, from lead-based paint to phthalates to even overpackaging. In those cases, buying pink could actually be harmful to your health.

And then there's a segment of folks who advocate focusing on the cause, not a cure. Breast cancer survivor and health blogger Susie Collins boycotts "awareness" and pink ribbon campaigns. She writes:

My highly critical view of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is along the lines of Samantha King’s, who, in her book Pink Ribbons, Inc., 'traces how breast cancer has been transformed from a stigmatized disease and individual tragedy to a market-driven industry of survivorship.' King maintains that corporations, under the guise of philanthropy, 'turn their formidable promotion machines on the curing of the disease while dwarfing public health prevention efforts and stifling the calls for investigation into why and how breast cancer affects such a vast number of people.' I couldn’t agree more.

Is there a balance to be struck? We think so. One way to do it would be to buy only pink ribbon items you actually need—and then make sure that they're healthy, non-toxic and sustainable. In these days when we're all beginning to eye potential holiday gift possibilities, we like Ecofabulous' list of green pink ribbon items. Just remember to think before you open your wallet—think first, and think green, before you think pink.