Are big-box anti-green?

Maybe so. But I still love Target. What’s a girl to do?

Went out to dinner last night (Il Bastardo in Chelsea, not too bad – but I wouldn’t go out of the way for it) to meet up with a couple friends from our Raleigh days.

Somehow Target / Wal-Mart entered the converation. While Wal-Mart elicited the typical “I don’t shop at big-box stores” from the well-dressed / well-shopped NYC boy, the reason surprised me. It was not because he wanted to support the little-guy. Rather, “Because I think the low quality perpetuated by these stores contributes to the increased ‘disposal society’ in America.”

Wow.

The argument is that the most even well-known brands make a cheaper quality of products to sell through the big-box stores. They need to cut corners to meet the pricing demands of these low-cost vendors. So what you see as a $20 discount, is partially due to inferior products. Which of course fail sooner than a high-quality product would. Which leads to more things being thrown away sooner. Y viola. Shopping at Home Depot, even when buying “green” products, is bad for the environement because we’re contributing to a disposable society.

<sigh> One more thing to think about when trying to change behaviors to be more thoughtful and good for the world.