Photography going green

pharmakon · Jan 25, 2010

oh yeah... don't throw your unused premarin in the toilet either... it might contaminate the water supply. Nevermind that a great deal will pass through your body unchanged after you take it, and contaminate the water anyways.

usayit · Jan 25, 2010

Its difficult to take any article seriously that doesn't quantify the impacts of rapid and short life span of digital cameras versus film nor quantifies the impacts of manufacturing has on the environment versus the impact of film processing.

How in the world could you back your assertion that "Digital cameras are good for the environment" with the final thought "it's probably similar to the impact of manufacturing film cameras anyway". "PROBABLY SIMILAR"???? who uses those words to back their assertion?

I can see it now.... Label on the back of the drug.

"Probably similar to other forms of medication thus deamed safe for consuption".

Kinda reminds me of those statements asserting that if it is organic then it must be safe... I think I'll go out back and down some Castor Beans... its organic and natural.

kassilphoto · Jan 25, 2010

You are correct that the comments on here give a good perspective on real information. But if everyone just throw up their hands and didn't try. Then what?

Well if you didn't try and save the manatee, then you have other issues.

Manatees help control the overgrowth of seagrass beds by continuous grazing, which reduces the need to use chemicals as a form of aquatic control. Manatees are also messy eaters and help promote seagrass growth by dispersing seagrass seeds around the bottom. In addition, manatees are considered an ecosystem indicator - their health provides clues to the health of our coastal environments.

Should the two seals die? Who knows... Either way something gets hurt.

usayit · Jan 25, 2010

kassilphoto said:
if everyone just throw up their hands and didn't try. Then what?

Doing anything without proper thought nor direction can be as damaging (or more) as doing nothing.

pharmakon · Jan 25, 2010

My point in the post was that a lot of times what seems like a good thing is doing just as much, if not more damage than good, it's just that the impact is either delayed or "out of sight, out of mind" and you can't take everything as you see it on the surface.

I'm all for sound environmental initiatives, especially when it comes to protecting wildlife, but I also have a problem with the latest trend of so called "green" ideas that are just to make a profit and really don't make a difference or might even do more harm than good.

Does it make sense to throw out all my appliances that are in great shape and would probably last me another 8-10 years just to buy new ones that save a negligible amount of energy? What happens to the ones I throw out, what is the cost to the environment to make the new ones, does it all add up? It does for the person selling the new appliances. You can say dispose of properly and recycle what you can but the average consumer is more likely to put it out on the curb for waste pickup.

Garbz · Jan 25, 2010

kassilphoto said:
It is funny how an article to suggest ways to be eco-friendly

Ahh but it hasn't. The point here is some of the bull claims that the article put forth. It's unquantified and completely ill thought through and entirely misdirected. I'll come back to the one that still irks me the most:

"a) Close the darkroom. Online processing/editing eliminates the harsh chemicals."

I have stated before that the reduction of a bottle of developer I use would be next to nothing compared to any other far more polluting aspects of our lives (actually we easily go through 10 times the amount of industrial cleaner in this house every year than I go through bottles of developer). And completely ignoring the fact that I could probably do more to save the environment by holding in my farts, how does moving to online processing eliminate the harsh chemicals? Are they going to magically guess at what was on my film and then print it on a sheet of papyrus using dirt as the dye?

Don't get me wrong I'm all for environmental friendliness, don't have a car and cycle to work, use energy saving equipment where possible, and work in a team that is part of a waste reduction group at a large oil refinery, but the article was just a load of crap.

"a) Give up the fax machine. Process orders online." Yeah lets throw away a piece of equipment that uses maybe 5watts of power idle and 20watts on and replace it with some that uses over 300watts and must stay on all the time.
Why not simply go and turn off your home-theater at the wall every night to eliminate the standby power consumption.