If we are to believe a half-century of daytime TV commercials, housekeeping is war — a perpetual battle against the sneaky soldiers of nature. For decades, we’ve armed ourselves with cleaning products to slay bacteria, scrape away fungus and torture mites. As our household organisms move up the evolutionary ladder, acquiring wings and faces, we hire mercenaries to drive them out.
Two recent developments, however, suggest a detente between nature and domestic culture.
This month, Pantone, a company best-known for its color-matching system, announced that the color of the year for 2013 is emerald green. Never in 14 years of these selections has a true green been named, possibly because it is also the color of mold, lobster liver and Brussels sprouts.
