TreeHugger.com: Green or Not?: Braun's Energy Star Shavers
Jack
· 2 years ago
I like my straight razor.I will keep it.No power outlet needed.I also need no hot water.I shave in cold water.
This is just one more thing i don't need.
thespyofcharles
· 2 years ago
thats... excessive... and i dont see how it could reduce that many carbon emissions... unless youre comparing it to a terribly, terribly inefficient electric razor...
i just use a normal razor... hmm... now that i think about it... i bought it... more than 6 years ago... haha
rob
· 2 years ago
Electronic razors DO save an enormous amount of money over blades. Replacement cartridges often run two bucks a pop. Considering the carbon footprint of 50-75 cartriges a year...
You can't travel with straight razors. I frankly wouldn't want to even put one in checked baggage.
Straight razors require a lot of upkeep. Not just stropping, but sharpening, occaisional grinding, and dressing the sharpening stone. Plus if you have the shakes or you're uncoordinated, you'll chop off a piece of your face. My grandfather could shave with a straight razor on a deck of a pitching ship, but I wouldn't wanna try ti.
Anonymous
· 2 years ago
Electronic razors DO save an enormous amount of money over blades. Replacement cartridges often run two bucks a pop. Considering the carbon footprint of 50-75 cartriges a year...
Where do you shop? And is your face made of sandpaper?
I go through maybe 5 blades a year and they cost around 50 cents for generic double blades at a drugstore.
The big potential waste (compared to an electric) with wet shaving is the hot water. Easily solved by wetting the face, using a small basin, and using shaving soaps with old-school brushes.
thespyofcharles
· 2 years ago
in the 6 years ive had my regular razor... ive bought replacement blades once.
i dont use a straight razor, but ive never had to sharpen my blades.
Zack
· 2 years ago
Would laser removal of facial hair be even more green? No recharging of electric razors and no purchasing and disposing of standard razors anymore.
Jason Nicholas
· 2 years ago
There is, of course, a middle way here. Several months ago, I became concerned over the amount of waste generated by shaving (it was on the list of little things that add up). So I purchased an double edge safety razor (the Merkur Futur from Germany; it's sort of an amalgam of something my grandfather would have used with a 21st century surgical instrument).
After the initial purchase of the razor and brush (yes, brush), the only thing one needs are packs of blades and shave soap. The blades come in small plastic boxes and are themselves individually wrapped in wax paper. The soap comes wrapped in paper as well. The blades last a good bit longer than the cartridges and do not bring about so much waste (in addition, the whole system costs far less than disposable cartridges and actually gives a more satisfying shave).
tre4
· 2 years ago
Unless you can modify western culture (Good Luck), I'm afraid you are not going to get men to change from something that works.
It took me over 20 years of varying shaving techniques and systems to find the least harm to my skin. For me, it is a manual razor kept with a couple days oxidization on the sharp variety of blades. Actually, this balance keeps my skin in even better shape than when I grow a beard. For my brother only a quality rotary prevents break-outs.
Unfortunately, this is important stuff in the west; grooming and clear skin is pivitol to basic success in most careers.
There is a reason men will pay $200 for a shaver. It is a business expense which pays for itself very quickly. And as David Duchovney said, "You need the means to be green". (I see his point, but there are exceptions)
Christopher Rydberg
· 2 years ago
Research has shown that an electric razor uses less energy than the amount used to clean and transport water to your tap for cleaning your disposable or straight razor. In addition you wouldn't need shaving cream or gel and the energy their manufacture and transport cost. If this razor is more efficient on top of that then it is probably the greener option by a landslide. Having said that, I think a beard and a pair of scissors for trimming it represent the real green option even if the general population will think you sloppy or dirty because of it.
Personally, I trim regularly with an eletric trimmer and only shave baby-butt smooth for special occasions or business meetings. And when I do that use organic cream and aftershave with an off-the-shelf razor that uses replaceable heads and NO BATTERY.
LG Adam
· 2 years ago
I doin't think people use that much energy shaving do they? I suppose every little helps, which is my excuse for having a beard. I'm not lazy, honest!
Damon
· 2 years ago
If the 64% savings is equal to 1073 cars, then this new Energy Star shaver still produces the emissions of 673 cars per year!? A tiny device, using a relatively efficient electric motor for a few minutes per day somehow produces many times the emissions of inefficient car engines used for much longer periods each day? It would be interesting to see the numbers and assumptions behind this seemingly ridiculous claim.
Jimbo
· 2 years ago
Actually, on reflection, I think this is probably a pretty good product. I doubt very much that electric shaving uses much energy in the first place, and so much the better if they're reducing it more.
TH recently did a post on blower hand-driers vs. paper towels, and found, to my surprise, that the blowers had a smaller footprint. I suspect you'd find the same thing here. If they last 6+ years.
In the end, the aim isn't to reduce our footprints 100%, but to get them down to a reasonable level. Everyone gets to decide for themselves HOW to reduce their emissions by 90%, I think there are a lot of things I'd cut out before I shave away my electric razor.
BTW- I don't use an electric razor, I use a normal one, but I'd be interested in a footprint comparison. One thing I definitely do is use unpackaged shave soap and a brush (one bar lasts about a year) rather than cream from an aerosol can.
Willy Bio
· 2 years ago
Okeedokee, let's examine what the post REALLY said, for those who are unable to read/process very well:
"The Smart Plugs use 64 percent less energy than standard shavers and, according to the company, will save over 12 million carbon dioxide emissions per year, or the equivalent of removing 1,073 cars from the road, planting 1,526 acres of forest, or lighting 5,861 homes for a year."
12 million carbon dioxide EMISSIONS. What exactly is an "emission"? Its not a ton, its not an ounce, its not, well, anything measurable in a scientific sense.
So what this means is that they are calculating the number of electric razor users out there, assuming they all buy this razor, then they consider each use of each razor to be an "emission".
Then they take some benchmark "standard razor" (noticeably UNNAMED) and calculate the projected energy savings. Who's with me when I say they probably used a very inefficient benchmark razor?
To sum this all up, the thing uses less energy than some other razors, which is good. All the rest of their marketing nonsense is just straight up GREEN WASHING.
===
JMC: Sorry, I left out "pounds."
Icelander
· 2 years ago
Straight razor? Only if I didn't mind slicing a vein when I shave.
I'll stick to my safety razor in the shower, thanks.
Anonymous
· 2 years ago
Okeedokee, let's examine what the post REALLY said, for those who are unable to read/process very well
You're so smart.
rob
· 2 years ago
Shavers are only used for three minutes a day, they seem like the perfect thing to solar charge. They've been battery powered for a couple of decades now. Around the world - hundreds of millions of infrastructure points already in place!
JuneBugEK
· 2 years ago
I'm finding this conversation very intrigueing from a womans perspective.
Let me clarify a few misunderstandings. The calculated savings are based on the total of all shavers of that model sold in a year. Because a shaver doesn't use much energy, the savings of a single shaver are not that sexy for marketing, so they multiplied savings by however many shavers would actually be in use in North America for that model (this should give you an idea of how many men are using electric shavers and why the Energy Star label is important even if you all don't use electric appliances). The ENERGY STAR emissions factors can be found on the EPA Energy Star web-site (www.energystar.gov). The emissions are calculated in pounds, not some imaginary unit, hence how they can translate it to number of cars and trees.
I hope that clears a few things up. As for the debate about using electric shavers in the first place versus traditional, that's for you to all hash out. Perhaps men should try waxing?
Willy Bio
· 2 years ago
OK, so its pounds then. No problem. I still want to know how they came up with those numbers: what "standard razor" they used for comparison, what consumer adoption projections they used, etc...
You should all be very wary of companies making green claims about new products. Just like you should be wary of what constitutes Organic, and a Hybrid vehicle.
Good for them if this razor does indeed use less energy than equivalent razors on the market, but so far they have not shown that, or anything else verifiable at all.
I don't think I, as a consumer, am asking too much at all.
Steve B
· 2 years ago
I use a regular gillette type mach shaver. They work great...but with all those little blades in there, the hair gets stuck pretty quick (mine anyways!).
So, this results in me cranking the water on harder to blow that stuff out, lest it scratches my skin and I look even more hideous!
Filling the basin doesn't work with these razors....only the force of water will dislodge my facial foliage!
I DO, however, turn the water on and off. This is wear on the faucets and the pipes rattle at me for doing so....but it's the best I can muster to keep things clean and not waste tonnes of water! (I am pretty sure it's quite wasteful on its own!)
I am interested in these shaving 'soaps/bars' though!
Captain Greenpower
· 2 years ago
grow a beard you treehuggers
and use an electric beard trimmer that doesnt need sharpening
a beard trimmer rarely needs charging from the mains electricity
and make sure your mains electricity is sourced from renewable energy company
silvermerc
· 2 years ago
This is an interesting thread because I've used almost all the products thus far mentioned-
I have a Braun electric razor & I do occasionally use it BUT, there's no way it provides the quality of shave that wet shaving does. It's simply not possible.
I don't think it uses a lot of power either especially considering it isn't left on all day. It's a convenience tool that's nicely designed.
I've had a straight or open blade razor for years & have fairly recently starting using it again. I've never once cut myself with it, it's definitely green (if you look after the blade it lasts forever), & maintaining it does have a learning curve but comes quickly & ends up being a JOY to use. I use a Henckels, & there is no other razor that even comes close to the quality of shaving it provides. There are some amazing damascus steel blades out there that are handmade & are so sharp you can split a hair with them.
Definitely get a brush, & forget about the green gel that you smear on your face from a can that came from the drug store, it's also junk.
Those Gilette blades you buy are cheap, low quality blades that cost a fortune, not to mention they fill up landfills, etc. You have to buy the handle & all the assorted b.s. only to find down the road you have to throw the stupid thing out to accommodate their "new & improved" four blade super wonder that they supposedly spend a lot of money on R&D designing. Fact is they spend most of their money on marketing.
The Merkur razors mentioned above are supposed to be awesome. I haven't tried one but I'd be curious to give it a go some time.
There's a pretty cool article I found on this subject here:
There's also an excellent store that sells top notch shaving stuff called Classicshaving.com. No I don't work for them or benefit from mentioning them.
Cheers.
Beth
· 2 years ago
I actually just wrote a post today about plastic-free shaving from a woman's perspective. It's at
I use a safety razor (bought from an antique store) for my legs and armpits, and I have found some very inexpensive, good blades on eBay that are plastic-free. They come in a very small cardboard box of 100. There is a photo at the link above.
I haven't decided which shave soap works best, so anyone with experience with shave soap, please e-mail me and let me know. I'm still using up a can of Gilette shave gel, and when that's gone, I'll need to switch to soap.
john m
· 2 years ago
To the guy who says facial hair is a major determinant of career success:
you scare me.
Hudson
· 2 years ago
Gee, just imagine how much greener it would be to ... LET YOUR BEARD GROW.
(No hot water, no production of shaving gear, no soaps or foams. And the hours saved over a lifetime? Priceless.)
JuneBugEK
· 2 years ago
Willy Bio, I think you're asking questions that are relevant and important. But nobody is hiding information from you. What you're asking for the company to disclose is public information, but it's simply too much information for marketing purposes and frankly most people aren't interested. The goal of the Energy Star label is so peopel don't have to look that infomration up, they can just see the label and know that product is a better choice than the one without the label. Poke around on the energystar.gov website for a while and you'll find it's all there. Being an EPA website, I have to admit it's not always easy to find, but as far as government websites go, it's not bad either.
I think asking these types of questions are extremly important, but to be blunt, you're complaints seem to be due to a lack of independent research. I understand the green-washing argument, but then you're challenging Energy Star in general, not Braun. To challenge this you're going to have to do a lot more research about market transformation strategy.
Captain Greenpower
· 2 years ago
grow a beard you treehuggers
and use an electric beard trimmer that doesnt need sharpening
a beard trimmer rarely needs charging from the mains electricity
and make sure your mains electricity is sourced from renewable energy company
All Comments
I like my straight razor.I will keep it.No power outlet needed.I also need no hot water.I shave in cold water.
This is just one more thing i don't need.
thats... excessive... and i dont see how it could reduce that many carbon emissions... unless youre comparing it to a terribly, terribly inefficient electric razor...
i just use a normal razor... hmm... now that i think about it... i bought it... more than 6 years ago... haha
Electronic razors DO save an enormous amount of money over blades. Replacement cartridges often run two bucks a pop. Considering the carbon footprint of 50-75 cartriges a year...
You can't travel with straight razors. I frankly wouldn't want to even put one in checked baggage.
Straight razors require a lot of upkeep. Not just stropping, but sharpening, occaisional grinding, and dressing the sharpening stone. Plus if you have the shakes or you're uncoordinated, you'll chop off a piece of your face. My grandfather could shave with a straight razor on a deck of a pitching ship, but I wouldn't wanna try ti.
Electronic razors DO save an enormous amount of money over blades. Replacement cartridges often run two bucks a pop. Considering the carbon footprint of 50-75 cartriges a year...
Where do you shop? And is your face made of sandpaper?
I go through maybe 5 blades a year and they cost around 50 cents for generic double blades at a drugstore.
The big potential waste (compared to an electric) with wet shaving is the hot water. Easily solved by wetting the face, using a small basin, and using shaving soaps with old-school brushes.
in the 6 years ive had my regular razor... ive bought replacement blades once.
i dont use a straight razor, but ive never had to sharpen my blades.
Would laser removal of facial hair be even more green? No recharging of electric razors and no purchasing and disposing of standard razors anymore.
There is, of course, a middle way here. Several months ago, I became concerned over the amount of waste generated by shaving (it was on the list of little things that add up). So I purchased an double edge safety razor (the Merkur Futur from Germany; it's sort of an amalgam of something my grandfather would have used with a 21st century surgical instrument).
After the initial purchase of the razor and brush (yes, brush), the only thing one needs are packs of blades and shave soap. The blades come in small plastic boxes and are themselves individually wrapped in wax paper. The soap comes wrapped in paper as well. The blades last a good bit longer than the cartridges and do not bring about so much waste (in addition, the whole system costs far less than disposable cartridges and actually gives a more satisfying shave).
Unless you can modify western culture (Good Luck), I'm afraid you are not going to get men to change from something that works.
It took me over 20 years of varying shaving techniques and systems to find the least harm to my skin. For me, it is a manual razor kept with a couple days oxidization on the sharp variety of blades. Actually, this balance keeps my skin in even better shape than when I grow a beard. For my brother only a quality rotary prevents break-outs.
Unfortunately, this is important stuff in the west; grooming and clear skin is pivitol to basic success in most careers.
There is a reason men will pay $200 for a shaver. It is a business expense which pays for itself very quickly. And as David Duchovney said, "You need the means to be green". (I see his point, but there are exceptions)
Research has shown that an electric razor uses less energy than the amount used to clean and transport water to your tap for cleaning your disposable or straight razor. In addition you wouldn't need shaving cream or gel and the energy their manufacture and transport cost. If this razor is more efficient on top of that then it is probably the greener option by a landslide. Having said that, I think a beard and a pair of scissors for trimming it represent the real green option even if the general population will think you sloppy or dirty because of it.
Personally, I trim regularly with an eletric trimmer and only shave baby-butt smooth for special occasions or business meetings. And when I do that use organic cream and aftershave with an off-the-shelf razor that uses replaceable heads and NO BATTERY.
I doin't think people use that much energy shaving do they? I suppose every little helps, which is my excuse for having a beard. I'm not lazy, honest!
If the 64% savings is equal to 1073 cars, then this new Energy Star shaver still produces the emissions of 673 cars per year!? A tiny device, using a relatively efficient electric motor for a few minutes per day somehow produces many times the emissions of inefficient car engines used for much longer periods each day? It would be interesting to see the numbers and assumptions behind this seemingly ridiculous claim.
Actually, on reflection, I think this is probably a pretty good product. I doubt very much that electric shaving uses much energy in the first place, and so much the better if they're reducing it more.
TH recently did a post on blower hand-driers vs. paper towels, and found, to my surprise, that the blowers had a smaller footprint. I suspect you'd find the same thing here. If they last 6+ years.
In the end, the aim isn't to reduce our footprints 100%, but to get them down to a reasonable level. Everyone gets to decide for themselves HOW to reduce their emissions by 90%, I think there are a lot of things I'd cut out before I shave away my electric razor.
BTW- I don't use an electric razor, I use a normal one, but I'd be interested in a footprint comparison. One thing I definitely do is use unpackaged shave soap and a brush (one bar lasts about a year) rather than cream from an aerosol can.
Okeedokee, let's examine what the post REALLY said, for those who are unable to read/process very well:
"The Smart Plugs use 64 percent less energy than standard shavers and, according to the company, will save over 12 million carbon dioxide emissions per year, or the equivalent of removing 1,073 cars from the road, planting 1,526 acres of forest, or lighting 5,861 homes for a year."
12 million carbon dioxide EMISSIONS. What exactly is an "emission"? Its not a ton, its not an ounce, its not, well, anything measurable in a scientific sense.
So what this means is that they are calculating the number of electric razor users out there, assuming they all buy this razor, then they consider each use of each razor to be an "emission".
Then they take some benchmark "standard razor" (noticeably UNNAMED) and calculate the projected energy savings. Who's with me when I say they probably used a very inefficient benchmark razor?
To sum this all up, the thing uses less energy than some other razors, which is good. All the rest of their marketing nonsense is just straight up GREEN WASHING.
===
JMC: Sorry, I left out "pounds."
Straight razor? Only if I didn't mind slicing a vein when I shave.
I'll stick to my safety razor in the shower, thanks.
Okeedokee, let's examine what the post REALLY said, for those who are unable to read/process very well
You're so smart.
Shavers are only used for three minutes a day, they seem like the perfect thing to solar charge. They've been battery powered for a couple of decades now. Around the world - hundreds of millions of infrastructure points already in place!
I'm finding this conversation very intrigueing from a womans perspective.
Let me clarify a few misunderstandings. The calculated savings are based on the total of all shavers of that model sold in a year. Because a shaver doesn't use much energy, the savings of a single shaver are not that sexy for marketing, so they multiplied savings by however many shavers would actually be in use in North America for that model (this should give you an idea of how many men are using electric shavers and why the Energy Star label is important even if you all don't use electric appliances). The ENERGY STAR emissions factors can be found on the EPA Energy Star web-site (www.energystar.gov). The emissions are calculated in pounds, not some imaginary unit, hence how they can translate it to number of cars and trees.
I hope that clears a few things up. As for the debate about using electric shavers in the first place versus traditional, that's for you to all hash out. Perhaps men should try waxing?
OK, so its pounds then. No problem. I still want to know how they came up with those numbers: what "standard razor" they used for comparison, what consumer adoption projections they used, etc...
You should all be very wary of companies making green claims about new products. Just like you should be wary of what constitutes Organic, and a Hybrid vehicle.
Good for them if this razor does indeed use less energy than equivalent razors on the market, but so far they have not shown that, or anything else verifiable at all.
I don't think I, as a consumer, am asking too much at all.
I use a regular gillette type mach shaver. They work great...but with all those little blades in there, the hair gets stuck pretty quick (mine anyways!).
So, this results in me cranking the water on harder to blow that stuff out, lest it scratches my skin and I look even more hideous!
Filling the basin doesn't work with these razors....only the force of water will dislodge my facial foliage!
I DO, however, turn the water on and off. This is wear on the faucets and the pipes rattle at me for doing so....but it's the best I can muster to keep things clean and not waste tonnes of water! (I am pretty sure it's quite wasteful on its own!)
I am interested in these shaving 'soaps/bars' though!
grow a beard you treehuggers
and use an electric beard trimmer that doesnt need sharpening
a beard trimmer rarely needs charging from the mains electricity
and make sure your mains electricity is sourced from renewable energy company
This is an interesting thread because I've used almost all the products thus far mentioned-
I have a Braun electric razor & I do occasionally use it BUT, there's no way it provides the quality of shave that wet shaving does. It's simply not possible.
I don't think it uses a lot of power either especially considering it isn't left on all day. It's a convenience tool that's nicely designed.
I've had a straight or open blade razor for years & have fairly recently starting using it again. I've never once cut myself with it, it's definitely green (if you look after the blade it lasts forever), & maintaining it does have a learning curve but comes quickly & ends up being a JOY to use. I use a Henckels, & there is no other razor that even comes close to the quality of shaving it provides. There are some amazing damascus steel blades out there that are handmade & are so sharp you can split a hair with them.
Definitely get a brush, & forget about the green gel that you smear on your face from a can that came from the drug store, it's also junk.
Those Gilette blades you buy are cheap, low quality blades that cost a fortune, not to mention they fill up landfills, etc. You have to buy the handle & all the assorted b.s. only to find down the road you have to throw the stupid thing out to accommodate their "new & improved" four blade super wonder that they supposedly spend a lot of money on R&D designing. Fact is they spend most of their money on marketing.
The Merkur razors mentioned above are supposed to be awesome. I haven't tried one but I'd be curious to give it a go some time.
There's a pretty cool article I found on this subject here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886845/</p>
There's also an excellent store that sells top notch shaving stuff called Classicshaving.com. No I don't work for them or benefit from mentioning them.
Cheers.
I actually just wrote a post today about plastic-free shaving from a woman's perspective. It's at
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/08/plastic-free-shaving-part-1.html.
I use a safety razor (bought from an antique store) for my legs and armpits, and I have found some very inexpensive, good blades on eBay that are plastic-free. They come in a very small cardboard box of 100. There is a photo at the link above.
I haven't decided which shave soap works best, so anyone with experience with shave soap, please e-mail me and let me know. I'm still using up a can of Gilette shave gel, and when that's gone, I'll need to switch to soap.
To the guy who says facial hair is a major determinant of career success:
you scare me.
Gee, just imagine how much greener it would be to ... LET YOUR BEARD GROW.
(No hot water, no production of shaving gear, no soaps or foams. And the hours saved over a lifetime? Priceless.)
Willy Bio, I think you're asking questions that are relevant and important. But nobody is hiding information from you. What you're asking for the company to disclose is public information, but it's simply too much information for marketing purposes and frankly most people aren't interested. The goal of the Energy Star label is so peopel don't have to look that infomration up, they can just see the label and know that product is a better choice than the one without the label. Poke around on the energystar.gov website for a while and you'll find it's all there. Being an EPA website, I have to admit it's not always easy to find, but as far as government websites go, it's not bad either.
I think asking these types of questions are extremly important, but to be blunt, you're complaints seem to be due to a lack of independent research. I understand the green-washing argument, but then you're challenging Energy Star in general, not Braun. To challenge this you're going to have to do a lot more research about market transformation strategy.
grow a beard you treehuggers
and use an electric beard trimmer that doesnt need sharpening
a beard trimmer rarely needs charging from the mains electricity
and make sure your mains electricity is sourced from renewable energy company