Barbie B-Cause wins greenwashing prize!

I am thrilled to see that Mattel's "eco-friendly" Barbie, which I noted back in April, has won first place in the Green Web Awards' "Worst Greenwash" category.

"Extremely funny", indeed!

I have gladly extended "ethical fashion and conscious consumption" to include non-sexist and anti-oppressive clothing. And just in time, too! Just when you thought the foolishness had reached its limits, along come Heelarious high heeled crib shoes. They are intended for the dainty little ladies in your life, but subversive mamas will also find them just the thing to complete baby boys' camo look and set tongues a-waggin' at playgroup. Thanks to my friend Peggy for the tip.

Does pink go with green?

In preparation for today's appearance (and I use that term in the virtual sense) on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, I am bathing in articles about pink, princessity and gender rules. I found a provocative blog post (and lively comment thread!) about Creeping Pinkification and am now starting to think more seriously about unisex design as a sustainable strategy. After all, if gender-branding does nothing more than double the number of products sold, doesn't that qualify as wasteful? I would be curious to hear from readers about whether I should Go There.

Eco-Barbie!!

Now we know for sure that green consumption -- and its for-profit cousin, greenwashing --has gone mainstream. Mattel has announced a collection of "eco-friendly" accessories for Barbie, sold exclusively through Toys "R" Us. The Barbie BCause" line uses scrap fabric and trims that would otherwise be trash and turns them into patchwork bags and other accessories. Richard Dickson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, explains: Barbie BCause is for eco-conscious girls who believe that being environmentally-friendly is the right thing to do, and we are thrilled to give extra meaning and extra style to what was once just extra Barbie doll fabric.”

Here's a thought: Instead of buying Barbie BCause merchandise for a unrecyclable, over-packaged, sweatshop made plastic caricature of a woman, the eco-conscious girl could make her OWN totes and pillows out of fabric scraps. If she has naked dolls (and all of mine were bald and naked within weeks of acquisition), she could even make clothes for her dolls out of her own old T-shirts, pj's and other clothing. Since Mattel claims they developed the line to educate a younger audience on the importance of becoming more eco-friendly, I know they'd think this would be a great idea!