Natural Planet A monthly compendium of tips, thoughts, and updates about our shared home.
by Deb Percival
Is Earth Day Passé? A
pril 22nd marks the 41st Earth Day – a day created by Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970 in response to widespread environ- mental degradation. The first Earth Day was greeted with such
enthusiasm that it practically organized itself. But even last year, Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, seemed to come and go with little fanfare. I wondered if my friends and associates would celebrate Earth Day, and if so, how, so I sent out a short questionnaire. My first read through the responses was discouraging: “Are we
still doing that?” “Was it started by hippies or something?” “What can one person do?” “What can one day do?” “I don’t celebrate it and I don’t know anyone who does.” “I’ll celebrate when Al Gore’s carbon footprint is under control.” “It’s like Mother’s Day, minus the moth- ers.”
How can this be? Every day there is more tragic news about the
environment. Coral reefs are in big trouble, dead dolphins are wash- ing up on the Gulf Shore, ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica is outpacing what models predicted… I wondered if I should bother to write this column – perhaps my
time would be better spent moving to higher ground. But I reasoned that having one more person say, “You make a difference, please try to have it be a positive difference,” couldn’t hurt. In addition, I do have some environmentally minded friends. Here are just a few of the sparks of inspiration my peeps provided. I wish I had room to include them all. “I don’t know if I should feel bad that I don’t know anything about
Earth Day, or should feel good that at my house we consider the envi- ronment in our everyday living.” “If Earth Day means that everyone should be aware of environ- mental issues then I believe that every day should be Earth Day.” “As a family, we have planted trees in honor of loved ones, and
worked in the garden.” “The most wonderful change I’ve seen is that the Merrimac River
in New Hampshire, which had globs of crusty brown and yellow suds when I was a kid, is now gorgeous and sparkling.” “My 13-year-old and her cousins want to dress up in blue and
green. I thought it was a great idea to visually recognize the day. I think I will ask my employees to do the same.” “It’s easy to forget that issues in 1970 were large-scale – concern
with the polluting habits of some large companies, the quality of our air and water, and the ability to safeguard the health and safety of American workers. Government regulation is controversial, but it has made a difference.” “I remember the first Earth Day as if it were yesterday - I was a
student at UCONN Avery Point, and we had tugboat rides to nearby islands to learn about tides, ecological concerns, struggles of marine life, etc. - in truth, we were blissful on the sea, only dimly aware of a future holding the horrors of broken BP valves...” “Perhaps because we live on an island, there are a lot of con-
cerned citizens. People organize clean ups at the beach, to remove all the garbage that washes in over the winter.” And my favorite response: “My brother is writing a book on Earth Day. Why don’t you give him a call?”
50 Natural Nutmeg A New Book on Earth Day
Adam Rome, Associate Professor of History at Pennsylvania State Uni- versity, is writing a book on the history of the first Earth Day (to be published in 2012 by Hill and Wang). Much of his teaching and writ- ing is about how our relationship to the environment has changed over time. His first book is, “The Bulldozer in the Countryside: Subur- ban Sprawl and the Rise of American Environmentalism.” I asked Adam about his latest book. “Like most historians, I al-
ways have known that the first Earth Day was important as an unprec- edented demonstration that Americans wanted government, business, and consumers to do more to protect the environment. When I de- cided to start the book, I mostly was interested simply in bringing the event to life. But as I did more research I came to believe that Earth Day was even more important than anyone had realized. Earth Day really enabled thousands of people to make a difference, not just in 1970 but for years afterward! And that’s inspiring, I think!” In responding to my question about the amorphous nature of to-
day’s Earth Day, Adam replied, “Gaylord Nelson did not originally expect that Earth Day would become a yearly event. Even in 1970, Earth Day was celebrated in different ways in different places. Some people saw the event as a celebration, and others saw it as a protest. Many saw it as an educational event. So it’s not surprising that Earth Day now does not take just one form.”
A Billion Acts of Green® Using the logic that if we all do little bits those bits will add up
to massive action, the Earth Day Network has launched their “Billion Acts of Green” campaign for this year’s Earth Day. Individuals, orga- nizations and companies are invited to register their pledges to act sustainably. The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the Earth Summit in Rio in 2012. Go to
earthday.org to see what people are doing, register your own pledge, and/or list your event.
So Is Earth Day Passé? Adam convinced me that Earth Day is not passé – it’s just differ-
ent. I hope someday it will become passé, because our sustainable actions will have become so ingrained and pervasive that the thought of a single day to remind ourselves to care for the planet will seem quaint.
Free Movie - The first person who contacts me and mentions this ar- ticle will receive an awesome documentary called “The Seeds of a Revolution: Earth Days.” (Also available at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ americanexperience/films/earthdays/player.)
Author Deb Percival is a freelance writer in Connecticut. E-mail deb@
naturalnutmeg.com.
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