How green is green?

Green is not just a color anymore. It does not only evoke images of grassy fields, or dollar bills, but now people think of carbon footprints and and three-arrow triangles. Green is the pulse of being a responsible sustainable society trying to move away from the damage that materialism has caused. But how green are we? Companies love to share how they’ve gone green by only using recycled materials or using less paper by relying on databases rather than files. But have they really made changes significant enough to dramatically lessen their gigantic footsteps?

Recently high-tech hand dryers made by the demigod of bagless high-suction vacuums, Dyson, were installed in bathrooms of my office building. They are called the "Dyson Airblade", and it's quite a fitting name. The moment someone sticks her dripping hands into the slot, a sound comparable to a jet getting ready for take off blasts the ears, with an equally powerful gush of air blowing the skin back. Gone are the days of rubbing hands together under shiny chrome blow dryers that would singe skin if someone were to accidentally graze her hand against it. The Dyson is made of gunmetal plastic and the hands go directly in a slot deep enough for the bottom half of the arms. It resembles a “toaster for hands”. Unlike some neighboring buildings, the paper towel option was kept at ours; an automated machine with a sensor distributing pre-cut sheets. Each time I went to the bathroom, I would see women glance at the new machine somewhat confused, and place their hands under the traditional paper towel dispenser, tear, dry, and move on. The funny thing is that the Dyson is much more effective at thoroughly drying the hands, and if someone happens to be wearing rings, it even provides the added benefit of a nice air dried sparkle.

So why weren’t the women giving the fancy new machine a try? Was it a fear of change? Or maybe it was post-traumatic stress from the ineffective chrome-dome dryers that would force a gal to rub the excess water onto her jeans? Then I realized the main culprit: the “ick factor”. A lot of women used the paper towel they used to dry with, and wrapped it around the door knob, to not make skin-to-germy-door contact. I obviously was not the only one to realize this, because two weeks later, a third installment was added to the growing collection of hand drying options. A smaller tissue dispenser with a trash hung beside the door. Now women could use the Dyson, and take a tissue to open the door with. But doesn’t that defeat the point of the Dyson in the first place? Paper would still be used, although one could argue the tissue squares were half the size of the paper towels. But if being green is truly the goal, shouldn’t the paper towel option be obliterated completely? How green is a bathroom with not one, but two paper product options? Is it aquamarine? Maybe teal?