The big dogs step in

It was only a matter of time before Daddy Warbucks threw his hat in the ring and why not, I suppose. Yahoo recently launched Yahoo Green and is now sponsoring a contest for designers to create an icon that will be used to represent green products throughout its family of sites and networks. How Yahoo presumes to deem something officially "green" is unknown. This, combined with the acquisitions of Zaadz.com by Gaiam and Treehugger.com by Discovery Communications, reeks of sellout.

While these moves undoubtedly take the green movement closer to the mainstream, one has to wonder if the opportunities that vested interests see in the market serve to strengthen it or undermine it. There is a strain of thought that believes true "green" and true environmentalism cannot coexist peacefully within capitalism, since conspicuous consumption and other monetary pressures that go along with it compromise green principles at every step of the way. In essence, it's difficult - well-nigh impossible - to place a monetary value on the things that bring true value to our lives...clean air, clean water, the colors, smells and sounds of nature, food created healthfully. So how do we expect these things to survive and, ideally flourish, if we no longer even understand their value in our lives and the only value that exists is money?

From what I can see, Yahoo Greenz appears to bring a lot of disparate information together pretty effectively, which is a tremendous resource for those seeking green information and alternatives. Nevertheless, the burden is on us, the informed citizen, to remain vigilant and protect green principles from agents too easily tempted by profit and dollars.