Earth Day is tomorrow, a friend reminded me this morning. My reaction: is Earth Day, created 40 years ago to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment, still relevant? Isn't it now just a small milestone in the environmental movement's history--a reminder of a more naive time?
Writer Alex Steffen articulates my sentiments better than I: "The biggest problem with Earth Day is that it has become a ritual of sympathy for the idea of environmental sanity. 'Small steps', we're told, ignoring the fact that the steps most frequently promoted (taking your own bag to the grocery store, recycling bottles and cans, turning off water then you're brushing your teeth) are of such minor impact that they are essentially meaningless without larger, systemic action as well. It is essentially the politics of gesture, little different than wearing a rubber wrist band or a pink ribbon."
That's harsh and somewhat cynical, but the realization of how little progress we've made around the world on the global front in 40 years is alarming. Take, for example, the recent UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen. Lots of world leaders, lots of talk, but few results. (See Why did Copenhagen fail to deliver a climate deal? for an excellent analysis of why the recent UN Climate Summit failed.
Nonetheless, it's interesting to read about Earth Day and the making of the modern environmental movement. And it's notable that Earth Day is celebrated in over 175 countries each year.
So tomorrow on Earth Day - or better yet starting today - tote your empty Coke bottle home from class to recycle despite the "small step" of that singular action. And consider supporting a major environmental group and/or backing a state or local legislator doing real work to protect and preserve our environmental resources. It's going to take all the weight we can throw around to do so from now on.
1 comment:
I think you hit on an interesting concept. On one hand, encouraging little things one day per year has almost no lasting effect, but if you try to get everyone to take more meaningful steps, they balk at the initial investment. But should we really accept "Anything is better than nothing?" for something so important?
Important health tip though, make sure those coke bottles are getting recycled into a container and not refilled, because the plastics are harmful if overused! Get a brass bottle instead.
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