Earth Day is approaching, and with it, waves of unease in the blogosphere. Echoing one of my earlier posts, ‘Green Festival or Celebration of Green Consumption?‘, an article in Ad Age this morning, raises the question of ‘Is Earth Day the New Christmas?‘.
Consumerism pervades our entire culture, we know that. And Earth Day is not exception. In the absence, still, of strict FTC guidelines, marketers are going to go wild with greenwashing on April 22nd. Newsweek, Target, Banana Republic, Macy’s, Toys’R’Us, Sweet Leaf Tea, Fairmont Hotels, Barbie dolls, Wal-Mart, Clorox, are amongst some of the companies that will ‘celebrate’ green, according to the Ad Age article.
I say, we go back to the original spirit of Earth Day, and we use the day as another ‘no shopping day‘ instead. Will you join me?
La Marguerite 
Dear Dr. L. B.,
I am imagining that your questions are rhetorical ones.
You ask,
“Why are politicians and skeptics so willing to risk their future and everyone else’s future on blindly clinging to a course of action that has a high probability of leading to a seriously crippled future? If you even suspect that global warming represents a serious risk to your survival (and we have far more than suspicion these days), why wouldn’t you do everything protect and conserve your planet?”
It would please me to hear from others; but from my humble perspective the “answers” to your questions are all-too-obvious.
First, the leaders in my generation of elders wish to live without having to accept limits to growth of seemingly endless economic globalization, of increasing per capita consumption and skyrocketing human population numbers; our desires are evidently insatiable. We choose to believe anything that is politically convenient, economically expedient and socially agreeable; our way of life is not negotiable. We dare anyone to question our values or behaviors.
We religiously promote our shared fantasies of endless economic growth and soon to be unsustainable overconsumption, overproduction oand overpopulation activities, and in so doing deny that Earth has limited resources upon which the survival of life as we know it depends.
Second, my not-so-great generation appears to be doing a disservice to everything and everyone but ourselves. We are the “what’s in it for me?” generation. We demonstrate precious little regard for the maintenance of the integrity of Earth; shallow willingness to actually protect the environment from crippling degradation; lack of serious consideration for the preservation of biodiversity, wilderness, and a good enough future for our children and coming generations; and no appreciation of the understanding that we are no more or less than human beings with “feet of clay.”
We live in a soon to be unsustainable way in our planetary home and are proud of it, thank you very much. Certainly, we will “have our cake and eat it, too.” We will fly around in thousands of private jets and live in McMansions, go to our secret clubs and distant hideouts, and risk nothing of value to us. Please do not bother us with the problems of the world. We choose not to hear, see or speak of them. We are the economic powerbrokers, their bought-and-paid-for politicians and the many minions in the mass media. We hold the much of the wealth and the power it purchases. If left to our own devices, we will continue in the exercise of our ‘rights’ to ravenously consume Earth’s limited resources; to expand economic globalization unto every corner of our natural world and, guess what, beyond; to encourage the unbridled growth of the human species so that where there are now 6+ billion people, by 2050 we will have 9+ billion members of the human community and, guess what, even more people, perhaps billions more in the distant future, if that is what we desire.
We are the reigning, self-proclaimed masters of the universe. We have no regard for human limits or Earth’s limitations, thank you very much. Please understand that we do not want anyone to present us with scientific evidence that we could be living unsustainably in an artificially designed, temporary world of our own making…… a manmade world filling up with distinctly human enterprises which appear the be approaching a point in human history when global consumption, production and propagation activities of the human species become unsustainable on the tiny planet God has blessed us to inhabit….. and not to overwhelm, I suppose.
Third, even our top rank scientists have not found adequate ways of communicating to the family of humanity what people somehow need to hear, see and understand: the reckless dissipation of Earth’s limited resources, the relentless degradation of the planet’s frangible environment, and the approaching destruction of the Earth as a fit place for human habitation by the human species, when taken together, appear to be proceeding at a breakneck pace toward the precipitation of a catastrophic ecological wreckage of some sort unless, of course, the world’s colossal, ever expanding, artificially designed, manmade global economy continues to speed headlong toward the monolithic ‘wall’ called “unsustainability” at which point the runaway economy crashes before Earth’s ecology is collapsed.
Sincerely,
Steve
Steven Earl Salmony, Ph.D., M.P.A.
AWAREness Campaign on the Human Population,
established 2001
I’m trying to plan a party on Earth Day with my friends. I’m hoping to do a litter cleanup, and then either beer or rollerskating (hopefully not both as I can see the combination ending badly 😉 ). I know that second part will involve consuming, but I need something to bribe them with. And I explain it to myself that we are also developing stronger relationships and building community.
Marguerite,
I agree. I’m going to try to avoid any shopping on Earth Day, and I’ll also try to minimize my overall energy use.
Cheers.
Sounds like a great plan to me!
One of the dangers from extreme environmentalism as associated with early treehugger types, has been their green or no green view. It is important for each of us to find our own shades of green, or blue . . . 🙂
Yes, Marguerite…it’s crazy….some of these companies are going to really muck up their images by making missteps with their green marketing efforts, because they’re not being authentic.
I wrote a post recently about B&N promoting Earth Day in a rather ridiculous fashion, when there are so many more appropriate ways to celebrate.
Count me in on your no-buy-Earth-Day celebration!
Thanks Jeff, thanks Lynn, thanks JenRob for joining me in the Earth Day No-Shopping Day movement . . . Please spread around.
I’m in! Good idea!
With all the hype around Earth Day, it seems you need to buy more to “prepare” than you would on any other day…
Thanks Nik. And happy green studies! Another young(er) man stopped by earlier today also. It always pleases me to see people from your generation getting involved. No wonder Al Gore calls you the hero-generation!
I LOVE THIS!
I am totally with this idea, Marguerite. Funny, I’ve been working on declaring every day a no shopping day except for the basics of food, animal food and absolute necessities, meaning organic, non polluting house hold items.
This is great.
Thanks.
Elizabeth Tjader
You are leading the pack, Elizabeth! Thanks for continuing to inspiring us through your example.