Pros And Cons Of Green Capitalism

World War II was an interesting era specifically for countries who already believed themselves to be industrialized. Post World War II, pushed American manufactures to a frenzy to produce the best products on the market. Although businesses began skyrocketing in profits, waste levels became an undeniable problem. Americans developed methods of disposal; however, in order to protect the environment more was needed than just disposal mechanisms. Since the 1950’s, American environmentalists introduced eco-friendly ideas; however, they came a long way in accepting green capitalism (eco-capitalism). Before environmentalists acknowledged the idea of green capitalism they experimented on some successful and non-successful methods. Some of which include legislative aid and advertisement. Throughout the …show more content…
According to Richard Smith, the author of Green Capitalism: The God That Failed addressed that “…American environmentalists…became eco-entrepreneurs or signed on with one or another of the hundreds of new green businesses from organic foods to eco-travel to certifying lumber or fair trade coffee”(par.8). This became America’s path to sustainability and profits. For example, companies slowly began to introduce eco-friendly products such as, biodegradable plastics that can slowly decompose with bacteria and/ or other living organisms. The only question at hand was “how long would it take and would it hurt the environment more?” Heather Rogers briefly presses the issue by questioning “…how industrial transformation can take place… [when] high consumption levels… [occur] under green capitalism… [when] companies redesign their products to be… reincarnated or…harmlessly disintegrate[d]…” (212). In short, green capitalism inevitably leads to increasing levels of waste because of how easily biodegradable products are to dispose