Behind the Scenes at a Green Products Show

I just got back from the Healthy Living Media Event, a product show where dozens of manufacturers show off the latest in green, healthy, eco-conscious consumer products.

Or so I was led to believe. Doing my duty, I visited booth after booth, tasted all kinds of snacks, and loaded up my swag bag with several pounds of sample products and info.

On the train home, I peeked into the bag to get a closer look and pulled out the Verilux Clean Wave, a toothbrush sanitizer that uses UV light to sterilize your toothbrush. I'm not sure how necessary that is, unless your toothbrush ends up a septic tank (in which case, I would buy a new one). Then, on the back, I noticed the following warning: LAMP CONTAINS MERCURY.

What on earth a product containing mercury is doing at a healthy living product expo is beyond me. And now that I'm stuck with it, I guess I have to figure out a way to dispose of this hazardous material.

Sadly, many in the media are now touting this product as a healthy way to get a clean item cleaner. I'm calling it out as a useless piece of crap that's really harmful to the environment. There were many useful, green, healthy products there -- cork flooring, green cleaning products, organic cotton products -- but too few in the media are smart about separating the wheat from the chaff.