The same applies to packaging: Real change will happen when it makes solid economic sense. And it will make economic sense, unless it's trendy. Trends come and go. Hollywood likes trendy; environmental activists do not. If protecting the big blue marble we all live on becomes merely trendy, we're all in big trouble. Jumping out of your stretch SUV at an awards show and saying "I buy offsets" to the first reporter who asks a question should not, repeat, not be the standard behavior. Get your own behaviors in order first before buying offsets and bragging to your red carpet fans. And for starters, make it a stretch hybrid.

But what are we doing about the box? Where will the package be when it stops moving or nears the end of its useful life? Will it need to be burned or buried to hide it from our fussy suburban eyes? Or will it need to be deconstructed in order to reintroduce each separate piece into a recycling program? Will it be used to fuel our homes? Could it be planted in the ground to grow a flower? These are the questions that Bill McDonough, author of Cradle to Cradle, posed to many corporate design teams long before it became hot to say, "Hi, I'm carbon neutral, how are you?" McDonough's efforts may not have led the consumer products environmental movement, but they have been recognized as important cogs in the system of sustainable design.

If your first thought is to use recycled materials when considering an environmentally responsible design, then you need to get current on your considerations because there are so many more factors at work.