Earth Day – what’s the dillio? I’ve been inundated with Earth Day related blather for about a month now so I can truly say I’m suffering an acute case of Earth Day Fatigue. From receiving umpteen emails from Grist about its intentionally provocative “Screw Earth Day” campaign, to press releases hawking everything from eco friendly search engines, organic teas, low VOC paints and tips on everything from green driving, to how to green my manicure, the emails keep pouring in. Everybody is going green…at least for one day. Maybe someone could count the number of new products out there with the word ‘eco’ in their name, and let me know. Now watch, someone’s going to ride our coattails and run a contest about it (maybe we will…).
Back to the task at hand…when, like moi, you’re immersed in green issues 365 days a year it becomes a challenge to join the chorus on a contrived holiday like Earth Day. Of course, the event gets tons of press and exposure and raises general awareness, but Earth Day’s transformation into a giant marketing and PR event kind of leaves me uninspired. Ultimately, it’s just another day in the ‘green’ world.
Oh, did you know that just for Earth Day, “The Price Is Right” is going green? I’d usually rant on for another paragraph or two but I’m so not jazzed I’ll just leave this here, and return to our regularly scheduled programming…
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I see it as a day of celebration more than anything. Celebrate the Earth and the efforts of all the dedicated “greenies” out there.
While I understand that all the hype is overkill, I think that a lot of people took notice of Earth Day this year who typically don’t think about living a green lifestyle. I know that my students this year really seemed to be talking about Earth Day and whether or not they recycled, etc…. I think it can be a good launch pad for people who may have been resisting adopting green habits.