Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Oh, Emmy, Emmy, EMMY!





I still find this painful to watch. A woman whom I thought was an environmentalist (with a second channel devoted to beekeeping and raising free-range hens) is shilling for Clorox Ultra Clean disinfectant wipes. Single-use wipes, whether flushed or thrown out, are a worse environmental hazard than plastic straws, though people seem to think they just sort of "disappear" after they use them once and discard them. Not only that, but they are loaded with chemicals that will NOT ONLY kill bacteria, but all manner of living things. She gleefully pitches these things, shaking the huge plastic silo beside her head, pulling it into frame dramatically, popping open the top and pulling out one after the other (for of course it takes half a dozen wipes to clean up after preparing one dish!), with a gleeful look that is almost dizzy with joy. I don't think I have ever seen her so pleased.




I don't get it.

Her fans say things like, "But Emmy WOULD NEVER use a product which is harmful for the environment." This is the same "would never defense" that comes up in sexual assault cases. Upwards of eleven BILLION wipes a year end up choking marine life to death, or spewing carbon emissions as they are incinerated in landfills.

No, Emmy. No. 

Just no.