Tech Kindred

The Digital Divide was the buzzword social issue of the Web 1.0 technology boom in the US.  Many people realized that with the benefits of new technology came a certain responsibility to those who couldn't enjoy its advantages.  Not only was disparity in general a part of the discussion, but the long term consequences of access to the internet for the urban poor, African Americans, Latinos, and immigrants were often debated.

Ten years later, the Digital Divide isn't' gone.  Ten years later, kids in the inter-city often have very little access to computers.  Although that problem is far from solved, there's a new Divide to worry about.

Green is in, and it's the new frontier of social separation in the United States.  In the last 2 years, green has gone from being the purview of a mainly environmentalist crowd to the upper and upper-middle class mainstream.  It's become trendy to be green, and companies are honing in on the new green market.  While this new consciousness is great for the environment, the beginnings of class separation are in its midst.  More pointedly, being green is expensive.

On it's face, it's pretty obvious.  There are no Toyota Priuses in the hood.  Some of that is a style thing, however, it's also cost related.  A Prius costs about $2,600 more at list than a Camry. A better comparison is the Toyota Camry Hybrid versus the regular Camry.  There's roughly a $6,600 premium for the hybrid versus the base Camry.  That cost difference is largely because the standard hybrid package has several items that would be options on the base model.  In terms of gas consumption, if you assume that a person fills up the Camry's 18.5 gallon gas tank once a week at $3.00 a gallon, that's about $3K in gas a year.  If you also assume that the Camry will reduce your gas costs by about a third given its MPG rating, that's $1K a year in gas savings.  So, altruistic motives and the complexity of rising gas costs, interest, and present value aside, it will take you 6.5 years to break even on your gas savings versus the premium on the car. If you're not economically well off, does 6 years make a lot of sense? More importantly, do all the options need to be linked to the hybrid?  Why can't Toyota make a base model hybrid?

There are similarities all over the map. Nau, a very cool eco-friendly clothing company, has a t-shirt for $55.  Granted that t-shirt is supposed to last you a lifetime, but is someone struggling to pay the bills going to buy it?  Or does it appeal only to well-paid hipsters? 

The worse part of the Eco Divide is not the inaccessibility of products -- that's normal.  It's the linking of a moral issue with one's ability to pay to be "good."  When it costs significantly more to do the right thing, isn't that problematic?  Some of the cost increase is based on the price of new technology, however, some is based in additional profit.

Being green is also starting to become a social and professional filter.  If your company is green, do you hire the guy who accidentally doesn't throw his cup in recycling during his interview, or does that subtly effect your opinion?  What if that guy doesn't recycle because it's a class issue?

Ultimately, green-ness is related to class in the US, and we can't ignore the link.  As green continues to be hip, corporations, environmentalists, and regular people need to do their part to close the gap.