The Earth Day Cult, Pt. 3

So we have an Earth Day, an Earth Hour, and an Earth Month.  We’ve got time slots reserved on all sides this year, devoted exclusively to hyper-marketed, trash producing, feel-good, intense events[1. But don't worry about all the trash it creates, we recycle all our garbage].  We’re helping the earth and being beautiful – we’re green chiq.

It’s really like the Derelict campaign from Zoolander.

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Grist weighs in on Earth Day, and comes down on my side with their annual Screw Earth Day campaign. You may remember my earlier E-Day/E-Hour/E-Month[2. How many defined periods of time can you reserve for the same feel-good cause, anyway?  Doesn't it seem a bit gluttonous, and perhaps a bit overboard, to segment time out like this for something that should be a year-round endeavor?] posts found here and here, where the basic point is this: Earth Day is a gimmick and disingenuous, but above all, it’s arguably more harmful than it is helpful to the cause of environmentalism.

From charges that, statistically speaking, the savings Earth Hour produces are overhyped, to the blatant capitalization and consumerization of the month by companies like Walmart, I find it very difficult to believe the sum total of energy savings and “awareness” that the month/day/hour produce are really even worth it.

Soon we’ll have every day, week, and month slotted out for a cause, and maybe some people are okay with that.  But I think these sorts of spectacles dilute the cause they purport to endorse, and, in this specific case, confuse the real purpose of environmentalism.  I’m not arguing that environmentalism shouldn’t go main stream, but couldn’t we do it in a smarter, more responsible way?  What about serious environmental education, for instance?  This is something I haven’t seen yet this month.  Or, how about organizational outreach?  I’d be interested in finding out how much environmental org’s have expanded their membership lists during this time.

Treehugger posted a rebuttal to the Grist campaign earlier today that said they were all for pushing “this [Earth Day] button, and every other one we can get to, as hard as we can” in the name of environmentalism, and concluded that the “Screw Earth Day” campaign run by Grist[3. This is really a more whimsical title with a sense of irony, than any sort of serious and mean charge] was “crapping all over Earth Day.”

Really?  Is this how to raise alarm about the environment?  By behaving as shrill and desperate as possible?  By taking whatever you can get, no matter the long-term costs?  It seems to me that this is the real pile of crap – much more so than a less-than-serious campaign with a funny title.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.