Scents of Nature, Now in Chemical Form!

I can't make this stuff up, I swear it.

The good people at Reckitt Benckiser, makers of Air Wick, have a wonderful new product based on a partnership with the National Park Foundation, to preserve national parks and "bring home the vibrant scents inspired by Nature." I didn't realize Nature needed help from chemicals to make Home smell good. Right now, the honeysuckle outside is in bloom, and wafts in my open windows quite nicely. Or, some perfectly natural cinnamon always works nicely. Nature is not some chemical concoction out of a can, or worse, a plastic THING plugged into the wall that lasts for a whole 45 days!!! (Then you need a new plastic thingy while you throw the old one out because there is nothing else to be done with it...) I'm not even sure what the National Park Foundation does.

Now, I understand why the National Park Foundation would team up with Air Wick. It's awareness and support and of course money. I can't really say shame on them for that. Well, I could, but there's no point to it. Gotta get them money from somewhere.  Here's a good scent: Yellowstone Wildflower Valley. Doesn't that sound lovely? "Bring outdoor freshness into your home with Wildflower Valley, inspired by the green grass and summer meadows of Yellowstone National Park's unspoiled natural habitat." I really am curious as to exactly WHAT that actually really smells like. I'm thinking it smells nothing like Yellowstone. And what kind of malarkey is that anyway? What ad exec thought THAT up? "Unspoiled natural habitat"?? sure, if you ignore the plastic bottles left behind because, ya know, gotta have convenient water at hand to drink. This stuff is classified as a HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL. What about that brings to mind "outdoor freshness"? Glacier Bay Serene Waters... "Inspired by the oceanic grandeur of Glacier Bay National Park, Serene Waters captures the clean, fresh and soothing fragrances of this Alaskan wilderness." Uh huh. Because, last I checked, fresh air smells EXACTLY LIKE chemicals out or a can.

RB, who make Air Wick and other things, swears it is a company committed to a healthier planet. Balderdash, I say. Do they come around and collect the billions of plastic containers left from their spent products? No. Do they use chemically-derived fragrances? Yes. Are they selling us things we do NOT need in our homes? Yes. So, any claims they make FOR the environment are, in my eyes, pure Greenwashing.

But, Greenie, you say, we can't open our doors and windows and just let real actual AIR in. We have allergies. The smell of real grass will make us sneeze.

How do you THINK we got such allergies in the first place??? We exposed ourselves to too many chemicals. We polluted the air out there until we can't stand to breathe it anymore. But we don't think like that. We think we have to spray crap all over the place and coat every surface and air particle in our sealed and air-conditioned homes with toxic chemicals so that we can smell something pretty. Something that resembles in no way shape or form what it is supposed to be "inspired by."

All we can do as consumers is NOT buy this stuff anymore. Just stop.

Please?