Happy Earth Day - Spendin' Green on "Green"

Happy Earth Day...go plant a tree, recycle a bottle, hug a squirrel...whatever. Earth Day, for all it's crunchy goodness, sadly appears to be going down the road of being exploited by capitalism, as I think I received about 25 emails from e-retailers this morning asking me to come shop (& of course save) on their "eco-friendly" wares. Organic clothing, sporting goods made from recycled materials, even pesticide-free food. Yum.

I understand this phenomenon, it's just another marketing angle. And although I don't disapprove, I do feel just a little dirty supporting it. Perhaps there's a soap that was not tested on animals that can cleanse me of my guilt. I mean following 9/11, I recall retailers lining up to sell memorial flags, t-shirts, and the sort, supposedly with a % of the proceeds going toward the cause. Call me a cynic, but I'd sure love to know what those %s were.

So my tangential rant aside, what does this mean? Nothing. At least for today, I'm buying into the Earth Day retail propaganda and placing a "green" fishing order. I've chosen Bioline, which is biodegradable fishing line.

Why Bioline? According to the manufacturer, standard monofilament line takes over 600 years to break down. That basically means every bit of fishing line ever produced is still somewhere...be it a landfill, the bottom of a lake or stream, dangling from a tree limb, or in some animal's belly. Doesn't sound so good. Bioline evidently only takes 5 years to break down.

Is it pricey? Yup. But as long as it does what it says it does, and actually is fishable, appears to be the path I'm taking moving forward. I'm picking up a spool of 4-lb and 8-lb, and will post some reviews of performance here once I get it wet.