Green Sex Toy Update
In yesterday’s SF Chronicle columnist Violet Blue has a nifty update on green sex toys. Helpfully she begins by linking to a bunch of other great pieces about green sex toys, all of which are worth checking out. Then she links to a range of products and companies that are either manufacturing in ways that are better for the environment, for workers, or for our bodies. In only a few cases, sadly, do the companies manage to do all three things at once.
The idea of bringing your environmental consciousness into your sex life is an interesting case study in the retail sex toy world as it’s a movement that is largely consumer generated. You might think that green sex toys are just a way for the media to talk about sex and for sex toy companies to get their names in the media. Both are true, but having worked in sex stores for over twenty years I can tell you that it all started with customers. For years vegan customers have been asking about products (from condoms to BDSM gear) that allow them to have the kind of sex they want without sacrificing their beliefs.
Customers began asking about recycling batteries and sex toys way before the industry was thinking about it. And I’m pleasantly surprised that when I hear that many customers say no to a bag at the cash desk, something I thought would never happen at a sex toy store.
So the customers are there. What’s surprising to me is that the media isn’t really stepping up. Most of the articles Violet offers links to, including ones from sources like Treehugger.com, seem willing to believe everything they hear from the sex toy marketers hawking their wares as eco-friendly. We shouldn’t assume that sex positive feminist sex stores aren’t marketing to us with the same bravado as other stores. After all, regardless of the label, they remain for profit companies that need to sell us stuff to survive. And if that marketing isn’t out and out lies, it’s always bending the message to fit the goal.
Take for example the excellent UK sex toy website LoveHoney. I’m a big fan of this company. They provide great customer service, good prices, and a huge selection of good quality sex toys. They also carry an unbelievable amount of crap. Last year they launched a sex toy recycling program that allowed customers to send back their dead toys and the company would recycle them. To encourage this LoveHoney offers a discount on another toy. The downside? Most of the toys that originally qualified for this program were poor quality and built to break. It’s great that they’re recycling toys but would it be better to only sell toys that will last for years instead of ones that last for weeks? Isn’t this sort of the environmental version of what it does for your body when you get a Big Mac and a Diet Coke?
On a more basic level I would argue that vibrators can never be really considered green in any meaningful way. I’ve known, and worked for, several people who travel regularly to the factories where motors for sex toys are made. These factories (mostly in China) observe the minimum environmental concerns they need to in order to keep their factories running. They are also exploiting cheap labor and adhering to the minimum safety requirements for workers. If a motor manufactured under these circumstances is then plunked into a beautifully crafted metal body, or a hypoallergenic silicone form, and sealed and packaged by people making more than minimum wage in Europe or the USA, does that mean the toy is green? How many layers of environmental packaging does it take to hide the exploited core?
I should point out that as a worker-owner of a sex toy store I’m as much a part of the problem as any other progressive sex store trying to do better. And I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t give credit where credit is due. Companies at every level that are trying to make a difference should be supported, particularly over those that aren’t. But I do think that if those people who cover environmental issues want to talk about sexuality they should use the same critical eye they use when dealing with any other industry.
Read more – SFGate.com: Ecosexuals do it greener (I also highly recommend checking out Violet's Unsafe Sex Products via TinyNibbles).
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Comments
If green is what we’ve come to believe from the marketeers, than it simply means packed in recycled (or worse “recyclable”) boxes. However, real green means it doesn’t produce damaging effects to our environment. Hard to do when most every toy is plastic (petroleum) made, and not the “recyclable” type.
I don’t think we’ll see real green sex toys any time soon.