Fact vs Fiction: Myths on America, Oil, and Eco Friendly

Is it Fact vs Fiction?  Does America get most of its Oil from the Middle East?

I read a fascinating article by Morgan Housel.  In it, he discusses fact vs fiction about America.

Now, to be honest, when I read these two fact vs fiction statements, I thought (admittedly, without a great deal of analysis on my part), that they were reasonably accurate.

Here’s what he says about them.  Please do comment and let me know what you think.  I was surprised.

Fact vs Fiction 1: Americans spend much of their money on goods made in China

Now if I think about my local supermarkets, a lot of the household goods on sale are made in China.  I’m fairly aware of those ‘made in China’ stickers or notes.  So, without giving it too much thought, I would probably have agreed that many people around the world, buy a lot of Chinese goods.  And certainly, the volume of goods that China exports to the US is massive.  So the statement seems to make sense.

Then I started to think about what percentage of my normal shopping is on those goods, and what is on food.  And what else I spend my money on…….

Morgan Housel uses figures from the Bureau of Labour Statistics to show how average Americans spent their money in 2010:

• • 34%        Housing
  • 13%        Food
  • 11%        Insurance and pensions
  • 7%          Health Care
  • 2%          Education

Those 5 categories make up almost 70% of total spending.  And those categories are supplied predominantly by by American-made goods and services.  (In case, like me, you were wondering about food – according to the USDA, only 7% of food is imported).

He uses additional arguments to back up his statement, but essentially he says that in terms of fact vs fiction, Americans spend less than 3% of their personal expenditure on Chinese-made goods and services.   That surprised me!

Fact vs Fiction 2:  America gets most of its oil from the Middle East

With constant media talk about fuel security, I have to say I thought this fact vs fiction statement was fact.  Yet according to the US Energy Information Administration, almost half of America’s petroleum supplies are produced domestically (mostly Canada and Mexico).  The Middle East supplies just over 9% of America’s petroleum.

Just 9%?  Wow!

Fact vs Fiction 3: Small changes don’t matter

The article got me thinking about eco friendly fact vs fiction.  Are there some eco friendly myths which need to be de-bunked?  I think so.

As a child growing up in Ireland, I remember an advertising campaign about litter.  It was a simple cartoon showing someone thinking “my little piece of paper won’t matter” as he dropped it on the ground.  In the next frame, there were hundreds of people, all thinking the same thing, and all dropping their own little pieces of paper.   And the final frame showed them all drowning in litter.

Yes, your individual choices DO matter.  As a consumer, your most powerful weapon is your wallet.  Encourage manufacturers of genuinely green products, and discourage manufacturers who use unnecessarily toxic chemicals in their products and aren’t concerned about their pollution.

Fact vs Fiction 4: Eco friendly products are expensive and not always genuinely green

This one in my opinion, is partly true.  Some eco friendly products are more expensive than their non-green alternatives.  Sometimes, they will save you money in the long term, like CFL or LED lights for example – they last far longer and use much less power than conventional lights.

Sometimes, some manufacturers just decide to increase their price (and profit) by adding a ‘green’ label.

Sometimes, products labelled as ‘green’ aren’t genuinely green.

It’s my job to research products which are genuinely green and highlight them, so you know you’re making a sound choice.   It’s also my job to highlight easy ways you can save money and be eco friendly, for example, easy ways of using less fuel or electricity.  That’s what I do in this blog.  Overall, eco friendly choices will NOT cost you more, and you’ll be doing your bit to save the planet too.