Five Green Products You Can Live Without

I'm sure you could create your own similar list from products you've bought with high hopes but then experienced disappointment. These are five that make green claims they're unlikely to realize:

1. Designer waters. Regular bottled water is bad enough, but when it goes upscale -- that's when it really picks your pocket in the name of some marginal health claim. The Urban Dictionary defines "designer water" as "a commercial brand of mineral water, often served or sold under pretentious circumstances ... at exorbitant cost." Sounds about right. It's even worse if it's imported from some distant land (ie, Fiji) because then you have to add transportation-related emissions to its demerit list. The bottles are beautiful, but as with celebrity-endorsed perfumes, that's what you're paying for -- a fancy bottle.